A Complicated Case
by Nimo98
Summary: Very AU. Callie lives in a small town, and one night saves the life of a stranger in trouble. Who is this woman, and why is Callie so intrigued by her? (Constructive criticism, and comments appreciated)
1. Chapter 1

"Look, mom, I have to go, I'm already late for work as it is, I'll talk to you later OK!?" She hung up the phone, put the cup in the sink. On her way out to the car she grabbed the car keys, and glanced in the mirror to fix her hair. She held her own gaze, sighed, and went out through the door.

Her car was a crackled deep green Toyota that her friend Mark had helped her find. It didn't always start on the first try but usually got her to work on time. Usually.

She turned into the parking lot, music streaming from the one working speaker. She pulled the keys out of the ignition, locked the car, and hurried into the store.

"Hey Callie! Car wouldn't start?"

"Five tries and a tantrum later." Callie replied; offering a smile.

She went into the employee locker room, or it wasn't as much a locker room as it was a cupboard with some hangers, a fridge which was rarely used, and a small table crammed in the corner surrounded by a few chairs. She put on her work clothes. Why couldn't they have a more uplifting color than gray and white she wondered as she put up her black hair in a pony tail.

At lunch time, Callie went outside to eat her sandwich. "Hey, Alex! Didn't feel like sitting in the cupboard with Smelly-Ray and the rest of the gang?"

He rolled his eyes "What do you think?!"

She smiled then sat down facing Alex, and started eating her sandwich. He offered her his bag of chips. She took some. "So, are you ever getting out of here?"

He sighed as he leaned back. "Honestly, I don't know anymore. I've been telling myself it's just temporary, but when temporary turns into almost four years I don't think you can call it that anymore. Besides, I could be worse off."

"Yeah, you could be suffocating in the lunch room with everyone else!" She laughed. Her joke coaxed Alex to snort out a laugh . "Seriously though, if you really hate it you know there are possibilities if you're just willing to move."

"I know, it's just... you get comfortable. Steady income, couple of good friends, fairly nice town, a bit boring but nice. Maybe you shouldn't be afraid to settle for enough?!" Alex wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself, or if he really did believe it.

"Mmm, tell me about it. But I don't second guess it that much anymore. My choice I mean."

"What, to come work here?"

"No, I mean moving back home when my dad died. It was meant to be temporary, as you said, but I kind of fell into this pace, helping my mother, and getting this job, you know?!"

"Yeah, I think I do actually."

Alex threw away the empty bag of chips and got up. "Well, back to work."

As she was walking into the locker room, her phone rang. "Y'ello!? Hi Mark, I'm changing as we speak. I'll be there in twenty. If my car starts."

Callie parked her car close to the bar. Another advantage of living in a small town: lots of parking space. She went in and saw Mark sitting in a booth by a window. He was fingering his beer bottle while looking outside. As she came closer, he turned his head and gave her a welcoming smile

"So, it started on the first try I take it?" He looked at his watch.

Callie cocked her head slightly to one side "What do you think!?"

Mark laughed.

"I'm glad you find it amusing" she said as she sat down. "You didn't order a drink for me?"

"Well, I didn't know when you'd be coming" He said still smiling.

Callie ordered a glass of wine. "Look, I'm very grateful for your helping me find a car, but please, I need it to be a bit more reliable. Today was the seventh time I was late for work this month, and I think Bailey is getting a bit tired of my constant excuse of 'the car wouldn't start', not to mention the fact that I'm practically always late for work."

"There is an easy way to solve that you know"

"You helping me to fix the car?!"

"I was more thinking you need to get up earlier" Mark laughed again.

"Ha. Ha. Not funny." Callie smiled. "Fine, if you wont help me, I'll just have to go to Smelly-Ray and ask him."

Mark raised his eyebrows. "Fine, I'll help you. I wouldn't want you to suffer that much."

They continued their random bantering for a while. Callie was still on her first glass of wine, and Mark on his second beer when he looked at her and asked her if she was getting any.

"Well don't be shy or anything" Callie said as she put her glass down.

"Have you ever known me to be shy?"

"Fair enough" she said as she repositioned herself in her seat. "I guess my last _sensual_ experience was last week at the hairdressers, when she washed my hair."

Callie had a serious look on her face, but Mark laughed so hard, he almost tipped his beer over.

"Are you serious?!" He asked.

Callie gave in and smiled "Well, half serious."

They drank up and went outside.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Mark asked.

"No I'm fine, besides I need to drop by my mother's. I promised her I'd talk to her later today, but I completely forgot about it."

"OK. Goodnight then"

"You too."

They hugged and went their separate ways.

Callie unlocked the door to her mother's house and called out as she closed it behind her. No one answered, so she went into the kitchen. No one there. She went into the living room, then walked upstairs to see if maybe her mother had gone to bed already. But no one there either. She walked back downstairs, stood in the hallway looking at the shoes and jackets hanging there. She looked towards the back of the house. When she walked outside on the patio she saw her mother sitting in a chair drinking a cup of tea.

"There you are. I looked for you everywhere. Didn't you hear me calling"

"I'm sorry darling. You know my hearing isn't what it used to be, and the door was closed."

Callie gave her mother a hug and sat down in a chair beside her. Callie tried to shake off how the nervous feeling she had gotten when her mother had not answered. It wasn't like her mother was sick, or even very old, but her father hadn't been that old either.

"Did you have a good day at work?" Her mother asked.

"It was fine. I did get in late again though."

"You need to get that car fixed honey, it's not good to be late for work. You want to keep your job don't you?"

Callie didn't answer right away.

"Don't you?!" Her mother repeated.

"Yes, of course I do. It's just..."

"It's just what?"

"Nothing. I promise I'll have it looked at. Mark said he would help me."

"Well, maybe if he had helped you find a decent car from the start he wouldn't have to help you with it now." Her mother put her cup down with a clink.

"At least I have a car. It would be difficult to have a job if I didn't." Callie sighed, and leaned her head back against the chair. She closed her eyes.

"You could always ride a bike." Her mother suggested.

Callie looked up at her mother, and saw she was smiling, so Callie snorted and said she would consider it.

"Which reminds me. Can I stay her tonight? Me and Mark had a drink so I can't drive home and it's closer for me to walk to my car in the morning from your place. And we don't want me to be late now do we?!" She added and smiled.

Her mother looked at Callie and said "No we don't."

Callie woke up the next morning to the sound of the alarm. I hate mornings, she thought. She threw of her comforter and went to the bathroom. She heard her mother moving around downstairs in the kitchen. That was the best thing about staying at her mother's place, having someone making breakfast for you.

Callie put on her clothes and went into the kitchen where her mother was making: "Pancakes?!"

Her mother looked up and looked at Callie over her glasses.

Callie continued "How come you're making pancakes? You almost never make pancakes."

"_Almost_ never. This morning I am" Her mother put two pancakes on a plate and handed it to Callie.

"Well, for the record, I'm not complaining" Callie said as she poured sirup on her short stack.

As she started eating, she noticed her mother seemed to be a bit uneasy. Her mother opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but then changed her mind and went back to whatever she was doing. Callie didn't feel like asking her if something was wrong so she finished her pancakes and thanked her mother for breakfast.

As she was putting her plate into the sink, the real reason for the special breakfasts revealed itself.

"Honey, I just wanted to say I didn't mean to criticize you last night, or Mark. He's a good friend, and I was just feeling a bit grumpy last night. It must be the age.

"It must" Callie agreed, but smiled to herself. Her mother had always had a grumpy streak, unlike her father, who was usually the one who could make her mother get over her grumpy-ness. I guess it shows more often now that he's not around anymore.

"And don't worry about it mom, I know you didn't mean anything by it."

Callie got to her car, and she felt this was going to be a good day. Mostly because her car started on the first try. "Yes! I love you" Callie shouted.

Indeed, today was going to be the start of something new.


	2. Chapter 2

It really had turned out to be a good day for Callie. No difficult customers, and on top of that, her boss, Miranda Bailey, had bought a cake to celebrate the second year anniversary of her taking over the store. Even though it was Callie's turn to close that night, she felt like it didn't matter.

Right before locking up, Callie made sure everything was shut off, and put the money in the safe. She walked towards her car, but suddenly stopped, and looked around. She thought she'd heard a noise, but she couldn't see anything to suggest anything out of the ordinary. She was about to put her keys in the car door when she heard the same noise again, and looked up. This time she knew she hadn't imagined it. Thoughts started running through her head: what if it was some addict looking for money, or maybe someone who was planning on breaking in as soon as she had left. Or it could just be a cat, she thought. She walked towards the side entrance of the building, where all the garbage and containers were situated. The noise had sounded like something bumping into metal.

Callie felt a little nervous as she got closer, and decided if there was indeed someone dangerous around, she would be better off with a weapon of some kind. She looked through her bag, but somehow a chap stick, or a pack of mints didn't make up a good weapon of defense. She was scared but at the same time curious, so she decided to make her keys into pointy brass knuckles, like her father had taught her once. As she came closer it sounded like something was scraping against one of the containers.

Whatever she was expecting, she was not prepared for what she saw as she turned the corner. A person was half sitting up against the container, trying to use their one free hand to keep them from completely falling over. The other hand was positioned on the person's throat.

Callie dropped her keys, and she couldn't help letting out a noise of surprise and shock. The person heard the keys drop to the ground and looked up.

Callie put a hand to her mouth. The other person tried to get on their feet, but failed and fell to the ground. Callie's fear was suppressed by her empathy, and she ran forward to help this injured person who clearly was no threat to Callie.

"Are you OK?" Callie asked as she squatted down by the body that was now on the ground.

Now that she was close to what seconds ago had been more of a silhouette, she saw it was a woman. The woman's eyes seemed to have trouble focusing on Callie's face. Her shirt was stained with blood that had escaped from her throat.

"Oh my God!" Callie exclaimed. "Hold on, I'm going to call an ambulance."

At the word ambulance, the woman took a firm grip around one of Callie's wrists. Callie was surprised by the strength of the hold, considering the state of this woman.

"I need to call an ambulance. You need to get to hospital; otherwise you'll bleed to death."

The woman held her grip, and managed to move her head in a way that suggested she was shaking it; saying no. She then let go of Callie's wrist and pointed towards the store building, and subsequently at Callie.

Callie wasn't sure what the woman was trying to say, but then realized she wanted _Callie_ to help her.

"No, no, I can't help you, you need a doctor!"

The woman grabbed Callie's hand and looked right at her. When Callie locked eyes with her, it weirdly had a calming effect on her, and she felt a strong urge to do exactly what this woman wanted her to do.

"OK, I'll be right back" She was about to say _don't go anywhere_, but that was sort of a given.

Callie ran back, fumbled with her keys, but managed to get the door open. She ran into the store, tried to think of what she needed. She was talking to herself as she ran down the aisles "Think, think, think. Towels. Scissors. Alcohol"

She stopped and looked at what she was carrying. "First aid kit!" She exclaimed. She ran back to aisle five, and grabbed a kit, and ran outside as fast as she could.

When she came back outside, the woman had managed to put herself back up in a sitting position. Callie put all of the material she had collected on the ground beside her, and opened one of the water bottles.

"I need you to let go of your throat so I can clean away all the blood; to see how big the wound is. Alright?!"

The woman let Callie remove her hand as she poured water on her neck. The blood was still seeping out and mixing with the steady flow of water. It didn't look like it was a very big cut, but by the looks of the shirt, it had been bleeding for some time. Callie grabbed a small towel "I'm going to press this against the wound to try to stop the bleeding"

As she was pressing the towel against the wound Callie had to support the woman's face so she wouldn't slide over. She had her eyes half closed, still conscious. Callie gently lifted the towel to see if the bleeding had stopped. It had decreased but not completely stopped. Callie figured it was little enough to put on a compress.

"I need to let go of your head now, so help me put you in a stable position."

The woman made an effort to reposition herself. Callie opened the first aid kit. She put a compress on the wound and sat down beside the woman. The adrenaline was subsiding and she started to feel an ache, in her knees and arms especially. She realized she had been on her knees the entire time, and her arms were stiff from holding the woman up. She looked at the woman again, but now her eyes were closed. Callie's first reaction was to be worried, but it seemed the woman was breathing normally; her chest was moving up and down in a regular pattern. But Callie had to be sure "Hey, can you hear me?"

The woman reacted to Callie's question, but she didn't open her eyes. That was enough to reassure Callie that she was OK. She looked around her at the bloody towel, and the other stuff she had brought with her outside "Now what?!"


	3. Chapter 3

Callie wasn't sure how long she had been lying there when she heard a moan coming from the woman's mouth. Callie sat up quickly, and again felt her body ache in places she didn't know you could experience pain. She realized she hadn't eaten or drunk in quite a while. She took a bottle of water and drank half of it. She panted as she put it back down on the ground, and then she looked up and met the eyes of the blonde woman. Callie froze at first, but then looked down at the bottle and held it up to the woman. It looked like she was making an attempt to nod. Callie scooted over to her, and held her head as she tilted the bottle to give the woman a chance to drink out of the bottle. She tried to pour slowly so the woman wouldn't choke. She managed to drink one third of what was left of the water and then turned her face away, signaling she was done.

Since the woman seemed a bit more conscious now than she had before, and adding the fact that she wasn't bleeding out of her throat anymore, Callie offered "So, can I drive you to the hospital now?"

The woman gave her a stern look that could not be a more clear: _No!_

"Well, what do you expect me to do? Leave you here?!"

The woman didn't look at Callie. Then she made a movement with her hand towards the parking lot, suggesting Callie indeed leave her there.

"You expect me to just walk away and leave you like this?" Callie shouted. Her anger came a bit quickly. Probably a mix of shock and fatigue.

"You don't want me to take you to hospital, and I can't leave you here. I can't exactly take you home, now can I!?" Callie concluded, in a slightly less angry tone.

When the woman heard that last comment she looked up at Callie and for the first time this evening, Callie thought she saw a trace of a smile on her face.

Callie opened her mouth in disbelief "You can't be serious. Firstly, I don't know who you are, and secondly, I have to say meeting like this doesn't exactly give a good first impression." Callie made a pause, and then added "I don't even take first dates home. Usually." At the last word she shrugged.

Callie sighed and looked at the injured woman again, and this time there was no mistaking her smile. Callie relaxed when she saw that poor woman, all pale from blood loss, smiling at her ranting. Like before when she had looked into her eyes, it had a calming effect on her, like everything was going to be fine. She had a gut feeling she could trust this woman.

"Alright. I can't believe I'm going to say this. You can come to my place. But only for the night!"

The woman put her right hand on her chest, like she wanted to say _Thank you_.

"First thing's first" Callie said. She got up, collected all of the stuff on the ground, and threw it into the container. She kept the first aid kit, she realized she might need it to redress the wound later. Callie figured it would be easier to bring the car closer to the woman, than trying to get her all the way across the parking lot. "I'm going to bring my car over here, OK!?"

The woman slowly blinked her eyes as an affirmative.

As Callie was walking over to her car, she remembered she hadn't locked the store after running in to get all those things. She ran back and made sure it was locked.

She drove up as closely as she could get to the containers, and opened the back seat door. She tried to help the woman up, but it was really difficult without the woman having to exert herself; to the extent that her wound started bleeding again.

Callie finally managed to get her into the back seat. There was a red spot on the compress now. _I can see to that when we get back to my place_, she thought.

After struggling to help the woman out of the back seat, and subsequently acting as a human crutch as they made their way to Callie's front door, she finally put the woman down on her couch. Callie sat down in the chair beside the couch and panted from the effort of getting the unknown woman into her house. A strange woman in her house, whom she had just rescued from bleeding to death. Callie was so tired it almost felt like she indeed was dreaming all of this.

The red spot on the compress had turned into a full on red blotch that was almost covering all of the white compress. The woman had closed her eyes the minute she hit the couch, and it looked like she was sleeping. Callie thought she better check the bleeding before she went to get some well deserved (if she say so herself) sleep. It looked like the wound had clotted up again, so Callie only changed the compress.

She went straight for her bedroom, because she was afraid that if she took a detour to the bathroom she would fall asleep in there. As Callie closed her door, she stopped for a moment and looked at the door. _I don't know this woman,_ she thought. Her fear started building up as the different scenarios played in her mind, including Callie getting killed in her sleep. She locked the door, and pushed her dresser to block a possible intruder. That made her feel a bit safer. She didn't have time to consider any other possibilities, because she fell asleep the minute her head hit the pillow.


	4. Chapter 4

Somewhere in the distance, a phone was ringing. Callie stirred in her bed. She couldn't understand what it was that was making that noise. She started coming to, and realized it was her own phone that was disturbing her sleep. She reached out and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?" She said drowsily.

"Callie? Is that you? Are you alright?!"

Callie sat up with a jerk, her eyes now wide open. Last night played up in her mind. _It wasn't a dream then_.

"Hello?" Someone asked her.

Callie remembered she was on the phone with someone "Yes this is Callie"

"Oh you are there. We were getting worried since you haven't showed up at work yet. We know your car isn't that reliable, but we thought you would have called if you knew you were going to be this late."

Callie looked at her alarm clock. 10.12 am. _Shit!_

"Yeah, I'm sorry Bailey" Callie tried to think up a good excuse. "I have been sick: up all night. I'm sorry I didn't call."

"Don't worry, we were just worried something had happened to you."

"No, nothing except for the being up all night." Callie thought about last night.

"Don't worry Callie, stay home and feel better!"

"Thank you, and I'm glad you called to check up on me." Callie genuinely felt gratitude, no one would ever have done that at the last place she worked at. They would have just given her up for dead, and replaced her, or something like that.

"Of course. Take care!"

Callie hung up. She became aware of the room around her, the light, the smell, and the warmth of her bed. Then she saw her barricaded door. She threw her comforter aside, and put her feet on the floor. Her knees were still a bit sore from last nights ordeal. So was her neck, she realized when she moved her head from one side to the other trying to loosen up the stiffness. She was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

Callie went up and pushed the dresser back to its place, and unlocked the door. She took a deep breath, and walked towards the living room. She was half expecting the strange woman from last night to be gone, but when she entered, the woman was lying there just as Callie had left her last night.

Callie walked closer to the couch as quietly as she could. The wound had stopped bleeding soon after she had put on the clean compress, because there was only a small red spot on it this morning. She hadn't seen it last night, but now, in the light of day, she saw that there was some bruising around the woman's neck.

Callie figured she should let the woman sleep a while longer. As she backed away, she bumped into the chair she had sat in last night. She tensed up and closed her eyes, hoping that her clumsiness wouldn't wake the woman from her sleep. She opened her eyes to see if it indeed had. The woman started to move a little.

Callie didn't dare move. She watched as the woman started coming to. Her eyelids slowly opened, and Callie could see how she attempted to focus her eyes on the table in front of the couch, and then how she tried to move her head; trying to make sense of her surroundings. Then she turned her head and locked eyes with Callie. Callie wasn't sure what to do so she just stayed in the same position, and didn't even blink.

It was the woman who broke eye contact first. She probably figured if she didn't, they would stay like that for hours. She looked around her, taking in the small living room and then directed her eyes towards the kitchen. She made an attempt to talk, but only got as far as opening her mouth, and then put a hand to her throat as if to stop the pain she felt when moving her jaw.

Callie, who had been holding her pose all this time, straightened up when she saw the woman was in pain. She forgot about the awkwardness of the situation, and blurted out "Does it hurt?"

The woman relaxed and showed with her hand: _only a little_. Then she made a sign suggesting she wanted some water.

"Of course" Callie said and went into the kitchen to get the woman some water.

She came back in and handed her a glass. The woman tried to drink, but it was a bit difficult not moving her jaw and getting water in her mouth. Callie saw her predicament and said "Hold on!"

She went back into the kitchen and slammed a few drawers, then came back with a straw in her hand. The woman accepted it gratefully, and was finally able to quench her thirst. She put the glass down on the table. It was empty.

"Do you want some more?" Callie offered.

It seemed the woman was satisfied for now.

Callie didn't quite know what to do now that there was nothing else to focus on than the pink elephant in the room. The pink elephant, aka, the stranger on her living room couch.

Again it was the woman who broke the awkward silence, not by making a sound but a gesture. She was making the sign for writing by using her right hand to 'fake write' on her left palm.

"Of course!" Callie exclaimed, and felt stupid she hadn't thought about it herself. The woman was obviously in pain, and it seemed to get worse when she tried to talk or open her mouth too wide.

She handed the woman a notebook and a pen.

The woman wrote something down and held the note book up for Callie to read.

_Thank you_

"Don't worry about it" Callie said. When she thought about it, she felt proud of what she had done last night. Helped a complete stranger. Saved someone's life.

The woman wrote something down, and Callie waited for her to hold it up.

_What's your name?_

"Callie!" She realized she told the woman her name overly articulate and loud, like the stranger was deaf. She felt stupid.

She was just about to ask for the woman's name, when she saw she was scribbling down more words.

_Nice to meet you Callie. Where is your bathroom?_

"Oh, God, I'm sorry I should have asked you right away!" Callie now felt more embarrassed than stupid.

"It's down the hall to the right." Callie pointed towards the hallway where her bedroom was situated.

"It's the first door on the left."

The woman smiled, and put down the notebook, and pen on the table. She then proceeded to put her feet on the floor and tried to push herself up. As she did, Callie reached forward to help her. The woman turned her head, and Callie found herself looking into those eyes again. Callie felt heat rising to her face, but then tried to hide it by proceeding to help the woman come to a full stand. The woman then let go of Callie's hand, and Callie watched her walk slowly towards the bathroom.

Callie was alone in the living room now. She started looking around, getting conscious about how the place looked. It was like she needed to make a good impression on this stranger. She walked around picking up clothes that, at some point, had not made it all the way to her room, or the laundry basket. They still didn't make it there, but she made sure they were out of sight. That is, in the box beside the TV, along with her DVD collection.

She came into the bathroom, closed the door behind her, and went to look in the mirror above the sink. She turned her head to see the compress more clearly. Then slowly pulled it off, and examined the night old wound. She put the compress on the sink and opened the cabinet, and took out alcohol, cotton, and a pack of plasters. She cleaned the wound, then put on two plasters to cover the injured area.

She gently washed her face, making sure not to move around too much to cause the wound to start bleeding again. She wiped her face and looked into the mirror again. Her blue shirt had a big stain; her own blood. She unbuttoned it, and took it off. Considering how long she had been bleeding, it did not surprise her to see her top was stained with dried blood as well. She raised her left arm up in the air resulting in a short intake of breath. Her ribs were probably not broken, but definitely bruised. She ran her fingers through her hair, and looked one last time in the mirror before she went out.


	5. Chapter 5

The woman hadn't returned from the bathroom yet, so Callie continued her little cleaning spree in the kitchen. She put plates and cups in the sink, and brushed away a collection of crumbs from the small kitchen island. She was just about to open one of the windows to let some air in when she heard the bathroom door open.

The woman entered the kitchen, shirt in hand. She had changed the compress for two plasters, and was wearing a top, that also had a stain of dried blood.

"Do you want to borrow some clean clothes" Callie offered.

_Yes._ the woman made a small nod.

Callie went to her room to find something the woman could wear. She found an old Seahawks t-shirt, a pair of sweat pants, then grabbed some underwear, and socks.

She almost bumped into the woman when she stepped out of her room. Apparently she had followed her down the hallway. Callie gave her the clothes "Here. I'll go put on some coffee while you change. Do you want some?"

The woman shook her head.

"What about tea?" Callie offered.

The woman tilted her head slightly, smiled, and nodded.

Callie put on a kettle of water. She didn't bother with the coffee. She had been thinking for some time that she needed to cut down anyway. No time like the present she thought.

She put out two cups, two bags of tea, and since she didn't know how the woman took her tea, sugar, milk, and honey. The water had been ready for some time when the woman came back out into the kitchen. Callie noticed that her hair was wet, which explained why it had taken some time. She had probably taken a shower.

Callie told her to sit down, and poured water into both cups. The woman pulled the cup towards her. Then Callie remembered about the difficulty it had caused the woman to drink out of a glass. She turned around and took out another straw from a drawer and handed it to the woman with a smile. The woman took the straw and made a thumbs up in return. She put it in the cup and started drinking. _Note to self: she takes her tea black,_ Callie thought.

Callie took another sip of tea, not sure how to break the awkward silence. The woman didn't seem to be uncomfortable with the silence though. They stayed that way for a while, exchanging glances. Callie alternated between looking out through the kitchen windows, to looking out through the window in the living room, and then into her cup.

It suddenly hit Callie that she was really hungry.

"I just realized, we haven't had any breakfast." She exclaimed, and started moving around the kitchen. She stopped, and turned to the woman

"But, I guess, we have to find something that doesn't need a lot of chewing..."

She opened a cupboard and took out a box of "Instant soup?!"

The woman confirmed with a smile.

Callie was heating up the soup when she realized she still didn't know the woman's name.

"You never told me your name."

The woman shot Callie a glance and then looked down into her cup again.

"You know my name so I think it's only fair that you tell me yours" Callie said.

The woman looked up at Callie. She smiled and then used her finger to signal Callie to come closer. Callie stepped closer. The woman used her finger to write on the wooden worktop. She had to write it upside down so Callie could see the letters from her side of the kitchen island.

Callie tried to see what letters she was writing "A?" The woman did not object so Callie assumed she had guessed correctly.

"R...I...Z...O...N...A. Arizona?!" Callie declared and asked at the same time.

Arizona nodded her head.

"Cool name" Callie said.

Arizona made a small bow with her head as a _thank you_.

Callie went back to the stove. "Soup's ready."

After they had finished their soup, Callie felt a bit more at ease. She felt comfortable enough to venture a question. "So are you going to tell me how you ended up behind that store almost bleeding to death last night?"

Arizona looked beyond Callie through the window.

"Since you didn't want to go to the hospital, I'm guessing you don't want a certain someone to know what happened to you?!"

Arizona looked down in her cup again.

"Abusive boyfriend?" Callie tried.

Arizona made a half nod half shake with her head. _Something like that_.

Callie felt her body relax completely for the first time since yesterday. She didn't have to worry anymore; she was protecting someone in need of help. It was all good. Maybe not all good since this woman was almost killed by her boyfriend, but at least she was safe in this house, Callie concluded.

Arizona stood up and went over to the coffee table to get the note book, and pen. She wrote down something and held it up to Callie.

"Sure, my computer's over there on the desk by the TV." Callie answered when Arizona asked if Callie had a computer she could borrow.

Arizona went over to the desk. Callie put the cups in the sink and started doing the dishes.

Arizona went on the internet. She browsed through the local newspaper page to check if there was any breaking news or such like. There was nothing to suggest anything out of the ordinary: the top headline was about a local politician being investigated for embezzlement. She felt her body relax. As she did, a sharp pain shot through her left side, and she put her right hand to her ribs. She couldn't remember the last time she had been in this bad shape. She tried to ignore it, and went on to search timetables for buses to take her out of this town.

Arizona had trouble reading the text on the screen. She put her hand to her forehead and noticed that she had started to sweat; the cause probably being the pain in her left side. Even though it wasn't the best thing to do, Arizona realized she needed to recover before she moved on. She knew she had to take advantage of Callie's kindness and stay in her house, at least for a few days until she felt better. Maybe it had been a mistake to tell Callie her real name – she didn't really know why she had – but she figured it was the least she could do considering Callie had helped save her life.

Callie had finished the dishes, and was wiping off the counter when Arizona walked into the kitchen again. Callie had had some time to think while she was doing the dishes, so she asked Arizona if there was anyone she wanted her to call, since she clearly couldn't talk herself. Arizona shook her head slightly, being careful not to move around too much. But Callie insisted her family or friends must be worried. Arizona wrote something in the notebook and held it up for Callie to read. _There is no one_. Callie didn't say anything to what Arizona had written; she only looked at Arizona wondering how it was possible that she didn't have anyone that cared about her.

Arizona penned down more words for Callie to read: _The reason I wanted to borrow your computer was to check for bus timetables so I can leave_.

Callie barely finished reading when Arizona dropped the notebook on the floor, and stretched out her arm to the counter for support. Callie hurried up to make sure she wouldn't fall, and noticed that Arizona was sweating.

"How are you feeling? It seems you have a fever." Callie said as she felt Arizona's forehead.

Callie helped Arizona sit down on a chair. "You shouldn't even be thinking about leaving, you need to get better first. You are welcome to stay here until you're back on your feet."

Arizona was too tired to at least fake-argue about staying.

"We need to get some painkillers and some more water into you're body, and then it's off to bed." Callie went to another cupboard and took out two pills of aspirin and an ibuprofen. Her mother, who used to work as a nurse, had taught her that when she had given Callie the same dose when she had broken her leg as a child.

Callie gave the pills to Arizona and held out a glass of water with a straw in it.

"Take these and make sure you drink up all the water."

Arizona did as she was told. Callie then explained to her that she would be more comfortable in the guest room than on the couch. The reason she hadn't put Arizona in there last night, she said, was because she had been to tired to help her all the way down the hall.

Callie filled up the glass with water, and led Arizona to the guest room at the end of the hall, that was situated right beside her own bedroom. Arizona went straight to the bed, and closed her eyes as soon as she put her head on the pillow. Callie studied Arizona's face before she put the glass of water on the desk, that was right beside the bed, and exited the room.

Callie left the door ajar. She stood in the hallway for a few minutes trying to feel if she was more shocked than tired, or the other way around. She decided it was probably fatigue, and went into her own bedroom to at least take a little nap.


	6. Chapter 6

The first thing Callie saw when she opened her eyes was her alarm clock displaying its numerals in an angry red: 6.19 pm. She moaned and buried her face in her pillow. Not really a nap if you sleep that long, she thought. Even though she would rather have stayed in bed, she got up, and stretched her arms to wake her self up. Then she proceeded to the bathroom.

When she walked in she noticed that Arizona's clothes were by the shower. She picked them up and was about to throw them in the wash basket when she heard a metallic sound coming from Arizona's jeans. Callie searched all pockets and found a wallet, and a set of keys. She put them on the cabinet and put the clothes in the basket.

When she came out of the bathroom she tried to listen for any sounds coming from the guest bedroom. She couldn't hear anything, but she went to look through the door, and she saw that Arizona was still in bed. Callie suddenly worried that she might not be breathing, so she tiptoed up to the bed. She saw that Arizona's chest was moving up and down in a steady rhythm, and let out a small sigh of relief.

Callie went down the hallway and into the kitchen. She put on some coffee: a shot of caffeine would do the trick, and one cup of coffee a day she figured was alright. She sat down in the living room and held the cup of warm coffee with both hands to warm them. As she drank, a lot of thoughts went through her head. She thought about what happened last night, again. Then she remembered she had to go to work tomorrow, and she needed to come up with a story to explain her absence today.

She sat in the couch for awhile, but then decided it was probably time to eat something again. This time she put a little more effort into making soup. She decided Arizona needed as much nutrition she could get, so she took out all the vegetables she could find in her fridge and put it in the instant soup mix, and finally pureed everything with a stick blender. The result didn't really look appetizing. Callie tasted it, and shrugged: it didn't taste all that bad really. She poured the liquid into two bowls and put them on a tray together with a spoon for herself.

Callie pushed the guest bedroom door open with her foot. She put the tray on the desk, and then turned to Arizona. She was still sleeping by the looks of it. Callie did feel bad about waking her up, but she figured Arizona had to eat to keep her strength up. She put a hand on Arizona's forehead to feel if she still had a fever, but it seemed that it was gone. Callie smiled and tried to wake Arizona. "Arizona."

No response, so she tried saying her name again but this time she also put her hand on Arizona's right shoulder. Arizona stirred, and took a deep breath right before she opened her eyes. She jerked away from Callie's touch in fear. "It's alright Arizona, it's me, Callie. I have some food for you."

Arizona relaxed. She tried to speak but all that came out was a noise that didn't really sound like speech. She put a hand to her throat, and closed her eyes.

"It's OK. Here, I brought you soup." Callie held out one of the bowls to Arizona. Callie saw that she frowned as she looked at the contents of the bowl, and assured Arizona that: "It looks kind of nasty but it tastes fine. I promise!"

Arizona shrugged and took a straw and gave the soup a try. Callie waited to see a reaction on Arizona's face. Arizona smiled and made a thumbs up. "Told you so" Callie said and started eating from her own bowl.

When they were both finished, Callie put everything back on they tray. "I'm going to get this back to the kitchen and clean up the mess I made while making it." Arizona smiled in reply.

Callie put all the dishes in the sink, and put away the tray. She heard the bathroom door close. She wasn't used to hearing other sounds around the house than the ones she made herself. It didn't bother her though; she found it rather nice actually. She hadn't thought of the possibility of sharing a house with someone else for a long time. Having Arizona here reminded her of what it could be like. A warm feeling spread through Callie's body when she thought about it, but at the same time she felt sad because she knew it wouldn't last.

Callie was pulled out of her daydreaming by a careful _knock, knock_. She looked up to see Arizona, who had entered the kitchen without Callie noticing. Arizona gave Callie a concerned look. _Are you OK?_

"Hey, I didn't hear you. Is everything alright?" Callie felt uncomfortable, like Arizona had caught her doing something private.

Arizona nodded, but then she held out one hand to Callie and put the other to her throat and mimed an _Are you?!_

Callie put on a smile and answered, in an overly happy voice, that of course she was. "Would you like to watch some TV?" She added.

Arizona paused, as if she was still pondering on Callie's assuring she was alright. Then she she gave Callie a nod and went to the living room.

Arizona sat down in the couch. Callie picked the chair right beside it. Arizona patted on the seat beside her on the couch, but Callie said she was fine in the chair. Arizona shrugged and turned her head to the TV. Callie flipped around the channels, but then decided to hand it to Arizona instead. "You pick." She smiled at Arizona. Arizona didn't want to argue about the remote so she took it.

They watched in silence. Neither of them really paid attention to what was on, because both of them were more concerned about the tangible tension in the room.

Callie was starting to feel tired, and it was as good a reason as any to get out of there. "I'm off to bed, I have to go to work tomorrow. I'll try to get off earlier, but make yourself at home. I'll make sure to buy something else for you to eat, but in the meantime you will have to settle for instant soup."

Arizona nodded, offered Callie a smile, and got one back before Callie went to the bathroom.

Callie looked at herself in the mirror, and drew a deep sigh. She brushed her teeth and then went straight to bed. She set the alarm, turned around and stared at the ceiling for awhile. She heard Arizona go into the bathroom, and then to the guest bedroom. Callie almost felt Arizona's presence through the wall. She let out a sigh and the closed her eyes.

Arizona wasn't sure what had happened between them. First Callie had evidently lied about being fine, and then she had preferred to not sit beside Arizona. She couldn't understand what she had done to make Callie act that way. Maybe the reality of having a stranger in the house had finally dawned on her. Arizona hated the fact that she was stuck there. She still couldn't talk, and even though the pain in her ribs had subsided, it was still too risky to travel a longer distance.

She turned off the TV, and went to the bathroom. Arizona saw her wallet and keys on the cabinet. _That explained it!,_ she thought. Callie must have looked in her wallet, and was now probably very confused. Since Callie hadn't thrown her out, there was no point in talking to her about it now, Arizona concluded. That will be a thing for tomorrow.

She removed the plasters and examined the wound, that seemed to be healing nicely. However, she put on a new pair of plasters to avoid anything chafing it open again. She only washed her mouth with toothpaste, and then went to the guest bedroom.

Arizona didn't fall asleep right away. Her mind was filled with different scenarios for tomorrow's talk with Callie, and what the consequences of that would be.


	7. Chapter 7

Callie woke up before the alarm. She tried to go back to sleep, but only felt restless, so she decided she might as well get up. She stepped out of her room and was about to enter the bathroom, but stopped to listen for signs of Arizona being awake. Nothing. Better that way; _no awkwardness to avoid_, Callie thought.

She drank a cup of coffee, and ate some toast. The house was quiet as usual, but somehow it felt like an intruding silence to Callie, because she knew there was someone else there with her; _someone who could break that silence_.

Waking up earlier than usual, combined with the fact that her car didn't give her any trouble, meant that Callie was actually on time for work this morning. She had made up a perfect explanation for staying home yesterday: food poisoning, which she made sure to explain to everyone at lunch time, including her boss. Maybe she was overdoing it, but she wanted to make sure no one suspected anything. Then again, why would they.

Callie's day was pleasingly un-eventful. She had a lot of time to think about last night, and realized that the tension she had felt was all her own doing. She shouldn't have projected her own insecurities on Arizona. Especially since Arizona was the one who was in need of kindness and understanding; not Callie. She decided she needed to talk to Arizona and apologize when she got home. Callie asked if she could leave a bit earlier, since she wasn't feeling all that well (probably due to dehydration she said).

Before she left, she picked up some groceries and other things that she thought might be needed at home; both for Arizona, and for herself.

Arizona woke up panting from a nightmare. She remembered where she was and turned around in her bed. She couldn't go back to sleep, but it was nice not getting up right away. She couldn't hear Callie moving around, and considering the time, she had probably left for work some time ago.

Arizona eventually made her way from the bed to the bathroom. The visible bruising around her neck looked worse than it felt, but that also meant that it would soon start fading away. She uncovered the wound and was happy to see it was healing nicely, so she decided it was better to leave it like that and not put on any new plasters.

She found a small carton of yogurt that she had for breakfast. To Arizona's satisfaction, she was able to eat the yogurt with a spoon. It appeared the swelling around her throat must have gone down, resulting in her being able to move her jaw without inducing pain. She wanted to try out her voice, and even though she was a little apprehensive, she had to try it all the same. She tried saying hello. At first it only sounded like a croak, but when she had gotten used to the feeling, she managed to speak a hoarse version of a hello.

Since she felt much better today she decided it was time to get back to reality. Someone had, after all, tried to kill her.

At first she hadn't understood how they had been able to find her. She had been very careful with covering her tracks. Then she had realized that the call she had made, had been a mistake. She had thought she could trust the people she worked with, but apparently this problem went deeper than she could have ever imagined.

She had had some time to think about what to do next, and had decided her best option was to get in touch with someone low profile, and even though she was reluctant to talk to Joanne again, she felt she did not have a choice.

The advantage with Joanne was that no one at the bureau had known about their relationship. Because of the rules about dating co-workers, they had needed to keep it a secret. At the time, it had been a hassle, but in the light of recent events Arizona would gladly go through it again if it meant a chance at getting out of this mess alive.

Since Joanne was probably not under surveillance, Arizona decided to send her a message. Fortunately, they had already made up a silly system back then to be able to contact each other at work without giving away any clues about who they were talking to. It was stupid, and childish, but it served its purpose.

She went on Callie's computer and started composing an e-mail to Joanne.

"I know it's been a while, but I'm getting married and I would love it if you could come. I want to talk to you, if you wouldn't mind giving me your number again?! Love, Z."

Arizona read through it again, and pressed the send button. She was hoping the whole marriage thing would make Joanne curios enough to give Arizona her number.

Arizona shut down the computer, leaned back, and looked out the window at nothing in particular. Now to the next problem, she thought, how would she explain the name on her driver's license to Callie?

Callie put the key in the front door. As soon as she had seen her house from her car, she had started feeling nervous about initiating a talk with Arizona, even though she knew she shouldn't.

She looked into the living room expecting to see Arizona sitting there, but she was nowhere to be seen. Callie exhaled. She put down her bags on the kitchen counter, then she went to stand in the hallway to try to listen for signs of Arizona being awake.

She heard the water running: Arizona was taking a shower. Callie went back to the kitchen, and started emptying the bags.

Callie was just about to put a carton of milk in the fridge when Arizona appeared from the hallway. Arizona and Callie both froze when they saw each other. Arizona was wearing Callie's bathrobe. Strands of her short blonde, now moist, hair were half covering her eyes. Callie closed the fridge. _Now or never_, she thought, and started talking before Arizona had a chance to even move.

"Look, I need to apologize for last night."

Arizona seemed interested in what Callie had to say, but still didn't move.

"I was completely insensitive and selfish."

Arizona gave Callie a look of surprise.

Callie didn't seem to notice any of Arizona's reactions, she was too occupied with her own speech. It was as if she thought she would lose her thread if she looked at Arizona.

"I was just so overwhelmed with everything that had happened, and I didn't quite know how to react, you know?! So I just, sort of, closed off. And that was very selfish of me since you are the one who has really gone through an ordeal. So will you please forgive me for being... an ass?" Callie had her head bent down but frowned, and glanced her eyes at Arizona as she added the last two words.

Arizona was still donning a look of surprise. Callie turned her head towards Arizona. "What?"

"Ranting much?!" Arizona managed to say out loud in a hoarse voice.

Now it was Callie's turn to look surprised. "You can talk!?"

"Since the age of three." Arizona smiled.

Callie rolled her eyes, and sighed out a "You know what I mean."

Arizona nodded. "No need to say sorry, I am so thankful that you helped me, and that you let me stay here."

Callie smiled. _That went better than expected_. "I bought a bunch of stuff; come here." She went over to the counter. Arizona followed her, and when she walked up beside her, Callie could smell her own shampoo on Arizona's hair. It smelled better on Arizona than it did on her, she thought.

"Here, I bought you a toothbrush." Callie gave it to Arizona.

"Even if you're not staying for long, there is no need to neglect dental care." Callie turned her head slightly to the side. Arizona smiled. So did Callie.

"Thanks." Arizona looked down at the bathrobe she was wearing. "Do you think I could trespass further on your hospitality and borrow some more clothes? I haven't had the chance to wash mine yet."

"Sure!" And then, might I interest you in some food?"

"Absolutely!"

Callie gave some clothes to Arizona, and went back to the kitchen to start cooking. She poured herself a glass of wine, and threw together a simple pasta dish with a quick garlic and basil tomato sauce.

They sat down by the kitchen island.

"It smells great" Arizona said, and served herself some pasta, and sauce. "It tastes great too."

Callie smiled. "Thank you."

They didn't talk much as they ate, but when they were both finished, Callie decided to bring up the conversation about what had happened to Arizona again.

"Has he done this to you before?"

"Who?" Arizona didn't understand what Callie was referring to.

"Your boyfriend. I take it this wasn't the first time?!"

Arizona caught up with Callie's line of thought. "Eh, well, it's not the first time I have taken a beating that's for sure." Not a complete lie, but not entirely the truth either.

Callie looked slightly shocked. "Why didn't you leave him?!"

Arizona felt this conversation was heading in a direction she did not feel comfortable with. "I'm sorry I don't want to talk about it. It's nothing personal, OK?!"

Callie nodded "I get it."

They spent the next couple of hours in the living room talking. Actually, Callie was the one doing the talking. Arizona was fine with listening to Callie talk about her co-workers, her mother, and later, the story of how Callie had moved back here when her father had died about two years ago.

Arizona could see Callie tearing up when she talked about her father's death. She explained how she had lived at her mother's house at first, but they had fought a lot, and also Callie had wanted a place of her own – it's hard moving back home when you're used to living in your own place – so Callie's friend Mark's uncle had this house he would let Callie rent.

Arizona wanted to reach over and give Callie a hug, but she wasn't sure how Callie was going to react, so she decided against it. But there was something intriguing about Callie, although Arizona didn't quite know what it was about her that made Arizona feel that way.

Callie had stopped talking, and was looking in front of her at nothing in particular. She was lost in thought.

Arizona thought this was a good time to change the subject "Thank you again for the wonderful dinner."

Callie looked up and smiled "You're welcome."

"Could I use your computer again, I just want to check my e-mail."

"Go right ahead. And you don't have to ask me every time you want to use the computer."

Arizona smiled and went over to the computer. Callie went into the kitchen, and put the dishes in the sink. She would take care of that tomorrow.

Arizona was happy that she didn't have to explain her wallet to Callie, and her luck continued: she had received a new e-mail from no one other than Joanne. There was no message for her to read except Joanne's number. Arizona took a pen from the desk and wrote down the number on her wrist. She would excuse herself, and then use the phone in her bedroom when Callie went to the bathroom.

Arizona came back into the kitchen. Callie was drinking some juice. "Do you want some?" She offered.

"No thanks, I think I'm going to call it a night actually." She walked up to Callie and put one hand on her shoulder "Thank you again for your kindness, and the delicious food." She smiled.

Callie wasn't sure what made her do it. The proximity of Arizona's body, the smell of shampoo on her hair, or the glass of wine Callie had drunk earlier. Maybe it was the fact that she had opened up to Arizona about her mother, but she felt she could trust her, so she leaned in and gave her a hug.

The hug lasted longer than she had first intended, but Arizona didn't resist, she had put her arms around Callie as well, and it felt good. But finally Callie knew she needed to let Arizona go to bed, so she drew back and wished her a good night.

Arizona looked calmly at Callie and said: "Sleep tight."

Arizona walked away towards the bathroom. Callie leaned back against the counter, and tried to understand what had just happened. _I haven't felt that way since..._ She shook her head, and drank the rest of her juice, then went to her room.

Arizona brushed her teeth, and went into her room. She heard Callie walking into the bathroom, so she hurried to the phone. She dialed Joanne's number.

"Yes?"

"Joanne?!"

Silence, and then "What the fuck Arizona! Married?!"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but no." Arizona didn't feel she had time to tease Joanne since Callie would soon go into her own bedroom, and she couldn't risk her over-hearing Arizona speaking on the phone.

She asked Joanne to please forget about their history together for five minutes, and just listen. That was quite a daring thing to ask of Joanne, but Arizona couldn't waste time on yet another argument, so she barely waited for Joanne to reply.

Arizona told Joanne she was in big trouble, and that she would not ask Joanne to help her if it wasn't an emergency. Joanne did believe Arizona on that one.

She explained how she had been set up, and now someone was trying to get rid of her. For life. Arizona didn't have time to get into details, but she knew there were people on the inside that were involved in this. What she didn't know was who and how many. She needed Joanne to look into all files marked with 485. She told Joanne that it was imperative that she be careful not to tell anyone about what she was doing.

"Wait a minute. You're saying that someone is trying to kill you, and you think it's someone on the inside?! Arizona, maybe you're not getting married, but this is not funny."

Arizona sighed. "Joanne, I swear on my life I am telling the truth."

Joanne snorted. "That doesn't mean much."

Arizona rolled her eyes. "Fine, I swear on anyone else's life but mine then. You have to believe me, and I am sorry to drag you into this mess, but what the hell am I supposed to do?! I don't know who to trust."

"But you trust me?" Joanne asked in disbelief.

Arizona hesitated, but then offered a sincere "I do, Joanne."

With that, Joanne agreed to do it.

Arizona heard Callie walking out of the bathroom and into her bedroom.

"Sorry, I can't talk any longer. Thank you again, and I will call you as soon as I can. Be careful Joanne!" Arizona hung up before Joanne had a chance to reply.


	8. Chapter 8

Callie couldn't understand what was making that noise. She was only half awake, so it took her a while to register that someone was knocking on the door. She groaned, and threw off her comforter. She took her dressing gown and went to see who woke her up on a Saturday.

She looked through the side window and saw Mark's car on the drive way. At first she sighed, because she was tired, and wished Mark hadn't woken her up. Then she froze, because she remembered she wasn't alone in the house. _Shit_.

She thought about pretending not to be home, but that would only require her to explain herself later, and that was not something she wanted to do.

She unlocked the door, but held her position, not inviting Mark in.

"Good morning." He greeted her cheerfully.

"Morning" She offered back, a little less enthusiastically. She didn't move out of the way though.

"Are you going to let me in?" Mark wondered.

"Um, I'm not feeling well. I can call you later when I'm feeling better?!"

"Well, that's actually why I'm here. I ran into Alex, and he told me you had been home sick. Food poisoning?"

"Yeah." Callie didn't want to lie to Mark, but she didn't know what else to do.

"Look, I don't know who you think I am, but I can tell when you're lying. What's really going on?"

Callie looked down on her feet. "I didn't exactly lie, I just had to make up an excuse not to go in. I really did have a bad night, almost didn't sleep at all.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?!" He walked towards Callie, forcing her to move, and let him in.

Mark went straight for the kitchen, and started making coffee. He then turned around to face Callie who was still standing up, looking towards her bedroom. Mark followed her gaze, then looked back at Callie. "Do you have company?!"

Callie turned her head facing Mark "No." The answer came a little too fast.

"Well, well. So the lack of sleep was actually a good thing, huh?!" He smirked.

"No I swear, nothing like that!" Callie tried to assure him, but she knew there was really no point. Once Mark had gotten an idea like that in his head she could never convince him otherwise. At least not for the next month or so.

"When do I get to meet her?" He asked.

Callie just sighed. Then she heard what she was dreading, Arizona was awake. She had probably woken up from Mark and Callie's interaction. Callie couldn't see her yet, but she heard her steps coming closer. Callie closed her eyes.

Arizona was about to great Callie, when she saw someone else moving around in the kitchen. Mark glanced at her. "Good morning!"

Arizona wasn't sure what was going on but figured being polite was the right thing to do so she wished him a good morning back, her voice not quite as hoarse today. She put up the collar of the bathrobe to hide the bruising to avoid any unwanted questions.

"I'm Mark. Nice to meet you." Mark was expecting Arizona to reply, but Callie hurriedly threw out an introduction.

"Mark, this is Arizona, an old friend from college. Arizona, Mark."

Arizona looked at Callie, her eyebrows raised in surprise. Callie gave her a stern look.

Arizona turned to face Mark. "Yeah, college."

"Old _friends_ you say." Mark emphasized the word friends, and Callie knew exactly what he was insinuating.

"Room mates, I take it?" He added.

"Something like that" Arizona answered.

Callie was sure Arizona was only trying to help, but her vague answer would only make things worse.

Mark smirked at Arizona's reply. "Coffee?" He offered.

Arizona declined, but Callie said she would love some. They all sat down by the kitchen island, and an awkward silence ensued.

Mark couldn't help but smile at the two women in front of him: trying to avoid looking at him, and each other.

Mark decided he wanted to make this awkward moment last a bit longer for Callie. "So, Arizona, where are you from originally?"

Arizona looked up. "New Jersey, originally, but I've been all over the place really."

Callie realized that she didn't know much about Arizona yet. The other night she had been the one doing all the talking, so it was nice to hear Arizona reveal something about herself.

"Where do you live now then?" Mark continued.

She hesitated for a moment. "I am between jobs right now, which is why I decided to come see my old college friend Callie." Arizona looked at Callie and blinked.

Mark saw Callie smiling at Arizona, and he decided he had tortured her enough.

"Alright Arizona, nice meeting you, but I'm afraid I have to go. Callie, I'll talk to you later" He gave her a meaning look.

"Yeah, see you later." Callie watched as Mark walked out the door.

"OK, what was that about?!" Arizona asked as soon as Mark had shut the door.

Callie explained how Mark was her best friend, and that he only came to check up on her since someone from work had told him that she had been sick.

"Well, he seems nice enough. A bit strange though. Giving me those weird looks." Arizona shrugged.

Callie didn't want to explain why he had been giving her those looks. She wanted to spare Arizona, plus she didn't know how Arizona would react to Mark's innuendo.

They had breakfast together. The conversation that Mark had started earlier continued without him. Callie asked Arizona about her childhood home, and they exchange experiences from school, and of their families. Arizona's parents divorced when she was about ten years old, so she alternated between her father's house and her mother's flat. Arizona explained that her only brother had died when they were kids. Callie couldn't even begin to understand the pain that must have caused her. Even though she herself was an only child, she could understand losing someone you loved and were close to.

"Nice save there by the way. With the 'old friend from college' excuse." Arizona wanted to change the subject.

"I don't know. I think I might have made matters worse." Callie said sheepishly.

"What do you mean?" Arizona didn't understand.

"Never mind." Callie went to the sink, and started filling it up with water.

Arizona didn't want to push it. "Hey, I think it's only fair if I do the dishes. I don't have a good excuse for not helping you anymore."

"You don't have to do that. You're my guest." Callie assured her.

"Well, I want to." Arizona walked up to Callie, and squeezed herself in between Callie and the counter.

Callie felt a whiff of the clean smell of soap off of Arizona's body. She would have liked to stand behind her while she did the dishes, but that would be very weird. So she backed away. She managed to get out a thank you, and then she went to get dressed.

She walked in and looked herself in the mirror. _What are you doing? She is not even going to stick around, and she has, well, had, a boyfriend._ Callie stepped into the shower and pulled the lever to cold.

When Arizona had finished the dishes, she started walking around in Callie's house. She went into the living room, and as she walked past the couch, she grazed her hand along the backrest. Her eyes looked around the room, and then rested on a small shelf cabinet right by the door leading out onto the patio to the side of the house. She walked up to it and saw that this was where Callie had her music collection.

Arizona saw that she had a CD-player, as well as a vinyl player. She started examining the CD spines. Some of them caught her eye more than others: Patsy Cline, Norah Jones, Madonna, Ani Difranco, Prince, Cat Stevens, Aerosmith, and Abba. Arizona smiled at the mix of artists in Callie's collection. She continued to the smaller stack of vinyls on the next shelf ,and among them she found artists like Carol King, Simon & Garfunkel, Dolly Parton, and Fleetwood Mac. She couldn't resist looking at the Fleetwood Mac album; her mother had always loved Stevie Nicks.

Arizona opened up the vinyl player, and put on the disc on the player, and tried to find the track she wanted to hear.

Callie was drying her hair with a towel when she thought she heard music somewhere in the distance. At first she thought she was imagining things, but then she stepped closer to the door, and confirmed that there was music playing. She put on her bathrobe, and stepped out into the hallway.

Callie stood looking into the living room. Arizona had her back to Callie; she was looking out through the door on the patio. The vinyl player was spinning a disc, that Callie knew was _Rumours_ by Fleetwood Mac.

Tears had started falling down her cheeks when she walked through the hallway, and even though she wasn't aware, they were still falling when Arizona turned around.

Arizona's expression turned from calm, to worried when she saw the tears falling down Callie's face. She looked at the vinyl player, back at Callie, who was also looking at the player. Arizona walked up to the player and with a scratch, the music stopped.

Callie couldn't take her eyes of the player even though the music had stopped.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have touched anything without asking." Arizona took a few steps towards Callie. "Are you OK? Callie?"

Callie looked up. The tears had stopped falling, but her cheeks were wet, and her eyes slightly red.

Arizona couldn't do nothing when Callie was evidently in pain; a pain that she had caused. She went even closer, and stood face to face with Callie. Arizona dried of the wetness from the tears off of Callie's cheeks with her thumbs. Callie just looked at Arizona as she did this. Arizona pulled Callie's dark hair back, and put it behind her ears. They looked at each other without saying anything, then Arizona pulled Callie in for a hug.

Callie put her arms around Arizona, and they stood like that for what felt like forever.

Callie was the one who pulled back first. She could have stayed like that all day, but she knew she had to explain her behavior to Arizona. She didn't want to cause that tension between them again.

Arizona tried to get eye contact with Callie, hoping to be enlightened as to what had just happened. Callie tried to make a halfhearted joke to loosen the tension: "Again with the weird behavior."

Arizona didn't smile. It seemed she waited for an explanation.

"I'm sorry, it's not your fault, it's just... Some of those records belonged to my dad."

Arizona put her head slightly back, and gave out a little sigh. "Sorry about that." She said.

"No, like I said, it's not your fault. It's just that it's hard not to think of him when I hear certain songs."

Arizona led Callie over to the couch and sat down beside her, one hand on her shoulder, the other on Callie's right hand that was resting on her thigh.

"You know what the funny thing is?" Arizona offered.

Callie looked at her, and shook her head.

"I only chose that record because it reminded me of my mother."

Callie smiled. "That is kind of funny actually." Callie's giggling, turned into a full on laughter.

Arizona couldn't help it; she joined Callie, but had to stop right away because of the pain in her ribs. "Ouch!"

Callie stopped laughing, but still panted a little. "Oh, what happened."

"I think my ribs are bruised, and their not completely healed yet."

Callie put a hand on Arizona's shoulder. "Thank you Arizona."


	9. Chapter 9

Arizona managed to get away to the phone in her room when Callie was on the computer. Joanne hadn't been able to get to the files yet. But she demanded Arizona tell her what exactly had happened to her. Arizona decided it was only fair that she do that, and she figured she had a little more time now than she had last night.

She explained to Joanne how she had been assigned to terminate a threat to the bureau. There was nothing unusual about it, until Arizona had the target in her scope, and realized the man she was about to kill, was not the one she had been informed about. She had recognized his face from another case.

She had gone back to her car and was about to radio in and ask about her mission when she was attacked. Arizona managed to stave off the attacker, and fled the scene in her car. She called her SAC, Stevens, to report, and he had told her to come to his house to be debriefed.

"Is this going where I think it's going?" Joanne interrupted.

Arizona drew a deep sigh, and ignored the joke Joanne was trying to make. Then she continued by telling Joanne how she had gone to see Stevens at his house – she had thought it a bit strange that he wanted her to come to his house – and when she stepped out on the sidewalk on her way to his house, her previous attacker came at her again. She barely managed to fight him off, and yet again drove away in her car. That was when she started suspecting something bigger in the works. There was no chance that whoever attacked her had been able to follow her; somebody must have informed him where she was, and the only one who knew that was Stevens.

"Fuck, Arizona. You are absolutely sure about this?! These are big accusations, with equally huge consequences." Joanne warned Arizona.

"You don't think I know that?! And do you think I would involve you in this mess if I didn't have to?!"

Arizona told Joanne how she had tried to contact another member of her group, but with the same result. However, she was more careful the second time, and therefore the man who was chasing her went to another room at the motel where Arizona was staying. That gave her time to get her things and leave. She explained how she tried to take every precaution: she threw her cell phone away, and got herself another car. In spite of all her efforts, she was caught by surprise a few days later. Arizona had no idea how he had managed to find her, but he did. She was about to step into her car when he had tried to strangle her with a garrotte. The problem with strangling someone is that you have both hands occupied, but your victim, on the other hand, has both her hands free. So, Arizona used all the tricks she knew to get him off her, and in the process she hit his head against the car. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Arizona noticed she was was bleeding quite a lot from a cut in her throat, but knew she needed to get as much distance between herself and this man. She drove as far as she could until she started getting dizzy, and then stopped her car at a truck stop. She walked into the town that was close to that stop "And that's where I am now." Arizona finished.

If Joanne had had any doubts, they were gone after listening to Arizona's story. She promised she would work at getting those files tomorrow. Arizona, in turn, said she would call Joanne tomorrow evening if she could. She hadn't told Joanne about Callie, or that she was staying at her house. She felt it was better to leave that little detail out for now.

Arizona walked back to the kitchen, and saw Callie standing there with a cup of coffee in her hand, looking out the window. Arizona stopped and just stared at Callie for awhile. There was something about her that intrigued Arizona. The fact that she somehow managed to look beautiful in her pajamas and an old dressing gown wrapped around her, only added to that sensation.

Arizona took a few steps back, and walked more loudly towards Callie than she had done before, to let Callie know that she was there. Callie turned around. She gave Arizona a smile and asked if she would like to come out for a walk with her. Arizona liked that suggestion, she hadn't been outside since that night when Callie found her, and some fresh air would probably do her good.

Callie decided they should not walk into town since that would only mean explaining who Arizona was to a lot of people. Instead, they went towards one of the hiking trails that was located on the outskirts of town. It was nicer scenery than walking through town as well.

Callie pointed at houses and places along the way and told Arizona about how she had gone trick or treating in that area, or that the people in that particular house were thought to be the town dealers. Both of them laughed at the idea that the old lady who was in the yard of that house was a drug dealer. She also showed Arizona the tree she had fallen from when she broke her leg when she was eight.

Again Callie was the one doing most of the talking, but this time she wanted Arizona to tell her something too. "So, I've told you a few stories, do you have any of your own to share?"

They kept walking but Arizona turned her head to look at Callie. "I like your storied better than my stories."

Callie snorted. "Fine but I think it's only fair you tell me one thing about yourself before I continue." She demanded.

Arizona couldn't deny her that request. She thought for a moment, and then told Callie about the time when her parents had sat her down by the table to tell her they were getting a divorce. Arizona's reaction had not been what her parents wanted, but they did expect it, but perhaps not the part about her running away from home.

"You ran away? For real?!" Callie looked a bit surprised.

"Well, I only got as far as my grandfather's old shed, and then I ran out of food."

Callie laughed. "I guess that's the reason many children have returned to their parents after running away: running out of food."

They both laughed. "Speaking of food, I think it's time to head back for some. Don't you think?" Callie said.

After they had eaten Callie suggested they watch a movie. "Any preferences?" Callie asked as she went over to the box with her DVD collection. She was a bit surprised when she saw a pair of pants and an old t-shirt there. Then she remembered putting them there when she was trying to clean up the other day.

"No, I'm up for anything." Arizona sat down in the couch.

"How about I take out three movies and you pick one?!"

"Yeah, sure."

Callie tried to choose three different types of movies since she didn't know what Arizona liked. She settled for comedy, drama, and action.

Arizona looked at the titles and didn't really know which one to choose. She only recognized the one, which was an oldie, so she went for that one.

"Some Like It Hot, huh?!" Callie responded.

"Well, who can resist Marilyn Monroe." Arizona half-joked.

Callie raised her eye-brows at that remark, but didn't say anything. She put the movie in and pressed play.

Arizona felt her mind wandering off from the movie, and thinking about their walk earlier. It had been nice sharing memories with Callie; she figured that it was at least safe to tell Callie about her childhood.

Callie had some difficulties concentrating on the movie as well. In vain, she tried to push away the feelings she was experiencing when thinking about Arizona sitting right next to her in the couch. Similar to the other night, she could feel a tension, but this time it wasn't a negative one.

Every time Arizona changed position Callie tensed up and waited for her to settle again. At one point Arizona's leg lightly touched on Callie's, which made it impossible for Callie to concentrate on anything else.

Arizona wasn't completely unaware of their legs touching either, but she quite liked the feeling, so she tried to keep that position, until her leg fell asleep and she had to move.

The movie finally came to and end. Callie was pleased, but a bit sad at the same time. Arizona stretched out and said that it was probably time for bed. Callie agreed, and she picked up their glasses and brought them over to the kitchen. Arizona turned off the TV, then she waited for Callie to switch the lights off, and they both went down the hallway towards their bedrooms together.

"I had forgotten how good that movie was" Arizona tried to break the slightly awkward silence.

"Yeah, it's not for nothing it is considered a classic."

"A lot of it because of Marilyn Monroe." Arizona joked, as they stopped by Callie's room.

"You go ahead..." Callie began at the same time as Arizona was about to offer Callie to use the bathroom first.

They both looked down at their feet and laughed, then managed to look up at the same time, and locked eyes with each other. Arizona was sure she saw Callie's pupils dilate, after all, she had received training in that sort of thing. Callie, in turn, couldn't tear herself away from looking at Arizona's beautiful blue eyes. She had not been trained in spotting pupils dilating, so she didn't notice Arizona's eyes becoming slightly darker.

Callie glanced at Arizona's lips, and she felt how she was starting to lean in, but before she came close enough, she stopped herself. She couldn't do this to Arizona, she was a victim, and there was no way of justifying taking advantage of that.

Arizona noticed that the impending physical connection had been broken off. She noticed Callie's body language was showing she was now uncomfortable. Callie indeed wanted this moment to end as soon as possible, so she told Arizona that she should use the bathroom first and then went into her room, and left Arizona alone in the hallway.

Arizona couldn't move at first. Being alone in the hallway wasn't where she had expected to be now, considering what had just happened, or had almost happened. She didn't want to make Callie more uncomfortable – this was probably the first time she had been even close to kissing a woman – so instead of going after Callie, she made herself ready for bed, and went into her room. Arizona heard Callie enter, then leave the bathroom, and close the door to her bedroom. Arizona drew a deep sigh and turned off the lights.


	10. Chapter 10

Arizona was happy about the fact that she was the first to wake up the next morning. She felt she needed to show Callie that what happened between them, or rather what almost happened, was not a big deal, and she figured if she made breakfast, that would be a sign that everything was fine.

She dug around in the cupboards and drawers until she had collected everything needed to make pancakes.

Callie woke up to the smell of something cooking. At first she didn't wonder why, but when her mind was clear from the fogginess of sleep, she connected the dots and knew that Arizona must be up. She groaned when she remembered last night. _Why?!_ She decided the best thing this time was not to bring it up; just act like everything was fine.

Callie entered the kitchen where she saw Arizona standing by the stove making: _pancakes!_

"Good morning!" She greeted Arizona.

Arizona turned to Callie "Hi. I thought it only fair that I cook you breakfast since you've cooked for me these last couple of days. Have a seat."

Callie forgot about the awkwardness of yesterday, and looked forward to being served breakfast. "I could get used to this you know." She teased Arizona. "I might keep you here as my personal chef."

Arizona gave Callie a smile and served her a plate with three pancakes on it. She put a bottle of syrup on the table. "Breakfast is served madame." She made a gesture suggesting she was Callie's servant.

Callie ate with gusto and was happy to have another serving of pancakes. Arizona made a remark about there not being any left for her. Arizona did, however get to taste her own cooking, and was pleased with the result.

"Thank you so much for making breakfast. It's one of my favorite things; being served breakfast." Callie declared.

"I'll keep that in mind for future references." Arizona replied. _Wishful thinking maybe_.

They had both eaten, and Callie had just finished her cup of morning coffee (_so much for cutting down_) when the phone rang. It was her mother calling to ask her to buy some tomatoes for the salad on her way over there. Callie remembered that today was indeed Sunday, which meant dinner at her mother's house. The recent events had made her a bit inattentive when it came to time. She promised her mother to buy tomatoes. As Callie was about to hang up, her mother added one last thing:

"Oh, and Callie, make sure you bring that woman you were seen with yesterday." _Click_.

Callie slowly put down the phone. Arizona frowned when she saw the expression on Callie's face. "Everything alright?"

"My mother just told me to make sure to bring you along when I go to her house later." Callie replied with a look of shock still on her face.

Arizona looked equally surprised. "How did she know I was here?"

Callie sighed "Small town. I guess our walk yesterday didn't go unnoticed."

Arizona wasn't too worried about people seeing them yesterday, it wasn't as if they would recognize her anyway. "What shall I wear?!" She joked to Callie.

Callie raised her eyebrows. "Actually that is a good question."

Callie dragged Arizona with her to her bedroom to search the closet for something Arizona could wear. Arizona sat down on Callie's bed while she rummaged for clothes. "Pants or skirt?" Callie asked with her back to Arizona.

"You pick!" Arizona answered.

Callie managed to find something similar to what Arizona had been wearing the night they first met, but a bit nicer looking. Callie handed Arizona her outfit. Arizona also saw that the coloring was very similar to her only set of clothes in this house, that by the way still had blood on them. "Perfect."

Callie handed Arizona a scarf to go with the outfit since there was still some bruising that would probably elicit unwanted questions.

Callie and Arizona were finally ready to go over to Callie's mother's house, but Callie was a bit nervous about what would happen when they got there. Arizona noticed how Callie acted all nervous and tried to assure her that it would be fine. Callie suggested they at least stick to the old-friend-from-college story. Arizona agreed.

Arizona stayed in the car while Callie ran in to buy tomatoes. "We're a bit late." Callie said as she handed the bag of tomatoes to Arizona. Callie clinched her teeth and uttered a noise in frustration when the car wouldn't start. Arizona couldn't help but laugh at her anger. Callie shot her a stern look, and Arizona stopped laughing , and pursed her lips together. The car started on the third try, and they were on their way.

When they were walking up to the front door, Callie was two steps ahead of Arizona. Arizona couldn't help feeling sorry for Callie, she didn't want to be the cause of her worrying and not being able to relax. She took Callie's hand, and stopped her before they reached the porch. Callie looked at Arizona with a surprised expression.

"Callie, this is going to be great, alright?! Don't worry about it, you will do fine, and so will I. I promise." Arizona smiled.

Callie felt the same calming sensation she had had the first time she had looked into those beautiful blue eyes. She dropped her shoulders, and sighed. Callie gave Arizona's hand a light squeeze, nodded her head, and gave Arizona a smile. They proceeded towards the door.

Her mother called an answer from the kitchen when Callie greeted the house with a hello. Arizona followed Callie to the kitchen. Her mother was stirring around the contents of a pot on the stove. "Did you bring the tomatoes?" She asked.

"Yes. Do you want me to make a salad?" Callie offered.

"Please." Her mother turned around to face the two women.

Callie's mother looked at Arizona, and then at Callie. "Oh! Mom this is Arizona. Arizona this is my mother Lucía, or Mrs. Torres."

"Lucy is fine; Lucía sounds like a saint, and I assure you I am not." Her mother said as she walked up to greet Arizona.

"Nice to meet you Lucy." Arizona said as she offered her hand for Callie's mother to shake.

Lucy looked at Arizona's hand, and wasn't sure if she should give her a welcoming hug, but then decided to shake hands with Arizona since the woman seemed more comfortable with that.

"So, how come I've never met you before. Callie's never mentioned you."

"Well, we only recently rekindled our friendship. We used to be friends in college, but only for a short period of time; I moved after only half a semester you see."

Callie was impressed by Arizona's ability to lie so effortlessly. On the other hand, that relieved her of coming up with a credible backstory.

Arizona offered to help with the salad, so Callie helped her find all the things she needed for that. Then her mother asked her to come help her set the table.

"How come you never told me about this woman?!" Her mother demanded.

"Well, like she said, we didn't really know each other that long." Callie explained.

"You must have had a good but short friendship then since she's here now visiting." Her mother remarked.

Callie didn't answer. She didn't want to lie more to her mother than she had to.

"She seems nice." Her mother continued.

Callie knew what her mother was trying to insinuate, but Callie didn't want to humor her. "Yes, she is nice."

Her mother wasn't the sort of person who avoided difficult subjects, and she really only wanted her daughter to be happy. "You know it would only make me happy to know you had found someone to share your life with?!"

Callie knew her mother meant well, but she couldn't let herself think about the possibility of sharing anything like that with Arizona, even though she would definitely like to try. She just told her mother it wasn't like that, and then went back to the kitchen.

Arizona was finished with the salad, and was rinsing the cutting board when Callie entered. She went over to the sink to have a glass of water. Arizona could see that she was upset about something; she hoped that it wasn't her presence that had caused tension between Callie and her mother. Arizona dried her hands on a towel and then put a hand on Callie's shoulder, and asked her if there was a problem, if she needed to leave. Callie assured her that there was no need for that, and that they hadn't even talked about Arizona, so she didn't have to worry.

Lucy came into the kitchen and saw Arizona's hand on Callie's shoulder before Arizona had time to take her hand off of Callie. _Nothing like that huh_.

All three of them sat down to enjoy the stew that Callie's mother had made. Arizona complimented Lucy on her cooking. Lucy asked Arizona about her family. She told her about where she was from, and her parents, and how they both had new partners now. Callie didn't pick up any new information about Arizona during the meal, which was slightly disappointing to her.

It all went smoothly, and all three women felt very comfortable in each other's presence. It wasn't until they were enjoying spongecake and coffee that Callie's mother started asking questions that were a bit more tricky to answer.

"So, Arizona, how long are you staying." She asked.

Arizona and Callie looked at each other; something that did not pass unnoticed by Callie's mother.

"I'm not sure yet, but Callie has been kind enough to let me stay for another couple of days at least." Arizona smiled.

Lucy wasn't willing to drop the subject so easily though. "And where are you headed next, Arizona?"

Arizona felt slightly uneasy, but then she settled for a plausible explanation to all of this. "I'm actually on my way to a job interview, but since they postponed it, I had some extra time, and I thought why not spend it with and old friend." Arizona looked at Callie and grinned; satisfied with her answer, and happy about the fact that Callie was 'the old friend'.

Callie had reacted to Arizona's explanation at first, but then she looked at her and didn't really care about it anymore, she was just happy that Arizona was staying with her.

Again, Lucy couldn't help but notice the silent rapport between her daughter and Arizona. With that, Lucy decided this dinner was over, and it was time to let the two of them go home and do some more 'rapport-ing'.

Arizona and Callie helped clear the table, and Arizona offered to do the dishes, but Lucy refused. "You're the guest."

"Where have I heard that before." Arizona glanced at Callie. "The apple and the tree..." Arizona smiled.

"I'm proud of you Calliope." Her mother said.

"Calliope?" Arizona looked surprised at Callie. "And you thought I had a cool name?!"

Callie sighed. "Only my mother calls me that."

On the ride home Arizona told Callie that she liked her mother. Callie agreed, and said that her grumpy-ness usually shows when you get to know her better, and snorted. Arizona retorted that maybe it showed more when you were her daughter. Callie agreed that that might be the case.

When they came home, Callie asked if Arizona would like a glass of wine. She accepted, and then excused herself to go to the bathroom. Callie opened a bottle of wine and put two glasses on the kitchen island. Arizona came back and had removed her scarf, and unbuttoned the top buttons on her shirt. Callie lingered a bit longer than usual with her eyes on Arizona, and concluded she had never looked better. She gave Arizona one of the glasses.

Arizona had a sip of the wine. It was nice and cool. It didn't take more than a few sips to make her notice the alcohol in her system; the consequence of almost never going out the past few years. Arizona looked at Callie in her tight black skirt and her off-white blouse; she looked nice. Hot even, Arizona conceded.

"So, now I have met your mother, and your best friend. Does he live close by as well?" Arizona asked as she put her glass down.

"He lives a bit further from my house than my mother, but it's still close, yeah."

"The two of you have any history." Arizona tried.

"Me and Mark?! No!" Callie laughed. "He's a great guy, but no we have never been romantically involved so to speak. We sort of play for the same team so it wouldn't work." She wasn't sure why she revealed that last bit to Arizona, but alcohol did have a slight effect on her ability to control what came out of her mouth.

Arizona wasn't completely sure what Callie was suggesting. "Mark is gay?"

Callie knew it had been mistake to say anything, but there was no way of getting out of this without being honest about it. "Eh, no Mark isn't gay." She paused before she added "But I am."

Arizona started coughing at those last words; the wine in her mouth had almost gone down her wind pipes.

"Sorry, it was about to go down the wrong way" Arizona apologized.

Callie wondered if her confession had caused that, or if it was merely a coincidence.

Arizona couldn't believe it. And here she had thought Callie was straight as a line. "Since I can stay here, I take it you don't have a girlfriend then?!" Arizona tried to be casual about the whole thing.

Callie confirmed that, and told Arizona that she had broken up with her last girlfriend right before her father had passed away. She didn't want to go into details, she just said it was complicated. Arizona assured her that she knew all about complicated. Callie thought she was referring to her last boyfriend, and felt like she shouldn't have said that. "Of course, I'm sorry." She offered Arizona.

Arizona didn't understand why she apologized at first, but then understood that she was probably thinking about the imaginary abusive boyfriend. She felt a sting of guilt about lying.

Callie emptied her glass, and asked Arizona if she wanted to watch another movie. Arizona thought that was a good idea, but this time it was Callie's turn to pick a movie.

Callie excused herself to change into more comfortable clothes. Arizona thought that was a good idea, and decided to follow suit.

When Arizona came into the living room Callie had already prepared a movie, so she sat down beside her in the couch.

Like with the last movie, Callie didn't really pay attention to what was going on; she was more occupied with thinking about what Arizona thought about her now that she knew.

Arizona didn't really watch the movie intently either. She was more focused on how close she was to Callie, and how she wouldn't mind getting even closer; especially now that she knew Callie might not mind.

Callie felt a bit tired and started drifting off. She didn't notice how she rested her head on Arizona's shoulder, as she drifted off.

Arizona didn't want to wake her, and also, she liked the feeling of Callie resting against her shoulder. She put an arm around Callie to support her further. As Arizona did that, Callie pushed her body closer to Arizona's, and repositioned her head even closer to Arizona.

Arizona could smell the scent of Callie's shampoo; the one she had used herself. She was careful not to wake Callie, but by the time the credits were rolling on the screen, Arizona had to move. When she did, Callie stirred. Arizona froze in an attempt to make Callie go back to sleep, but Callie was waking up.

Callie turned her head slightly and opened her eyes, and saw Arizona looking at her. She smiled first, but then it hit her: she had fallen asleep and used Arizona as her pillow. She pulled back, embarrassed, and apologized.

Arizona assured her it was her pleasure. Callie wasn't sure if Arizona was joking, but she didn't show it on her face if she was.

Arizona looked at Callie and felt her emotions taking over, and her brain was not in charge anymore. Her left arm was still stretched out along the backrest; she lifted her left hand up to Callie's face and stroked her gently on her cheek. "You are very cute when you sleep" Arizona whispered.

Callie was caught off guard, and wasn't sure what was happening. She still felt the alcohol in her body, and she had just woken up, which meant her thoughts weren't working at their best at the moment.

Arizona directed her eyes at Callie's lips, and started leaning in. Callie was so confused that she blurted out "But I thought you had a boyfriend?!"

Arizona paused inches from Callie's face. "It's complicated." Then she kissed Callie.

Whatever Callie had been thinking disappeared with Arizona's kiss. The only thing she could focus on were the places on her body where Arizona was touching her. On her face, her neck, then her breasts. Callie deepened the kiss.

Arizona felt Callie taking charge of the kissing, and Callie changed position so she was straddling Arizona's leg. Arizona broke away from the kiss and looked up at Callie. "You want to move this to somewhere more comfortable?!" Arizona suggested.

Callie nodded in agreement.

They slowly made their way to Callie's bedroom; still kissing. Callie removed Arizona's shirt, and kissed her once before she pushed her down on the bed. She pulled her own shirt off, and kissed her way from Arizona's breasts up to her lips.

Arizona got even more exited with Callie being in charge, but wanted to change it up a bit, so she turned herself and Callie around so she was now on top. She pinned down Callie's arms to the bed, and then paused to look into her eyes.

Callie looked into Arizona's eyes, she couldn't believe this was happening, but there was time to face that later, for now, all she knew was that this was exactly where she wanted to be.


	11. Chapter 11

Callie could feel the warmth of Arizona's body behind her as she started to wake up. A smile spread across her face as she remembered the recent events between them. She looked at the alarm clock. _Good; still a a few hours to sleep before work_. Callie realized she wasn't the only one awake when she felt Arizona's lips on her shoulder. Callie arched her back in pleasure, and pushed her body closer to Arizona's. This resulted in Arizona planting more kisses on Callie's neck, who groaned, and turned around to face Arizona.

They stayed that way, just looking into each other's eyes; smiling, before they started kissing. At first they were kisses of affection, but then they turned into something deeper and more passionate. They made love for the second time that night, and Callie thought it was even better than the first time around.

After, they both fell asleep: legs entangled and bodies close together like they were trying to be one single form.

Callie only got a couple of more hours of sleep before she was woken up, but not by her alarm clock: the phone was ringing. _Who could be calling at this time?_ She reluctantly left the warmth of Arizona and the bed. Arizona woke up when Callie went to answer.

Callie put the receiver to her ear. "Hello?"

Arizona looked at Callie and heard her ask who the person on the phone was, and then Callie looked right at her with a puzzled look and said "Yes."

Callie held out the phone and told Arizona it was for her. Arizona sat up and didn't understand at first "For me?!"

"Your friend, Joanne" Callie said.

Arizona got out of the bed and took the phone from Callie's hand. Callie walked over to sit on the bed as Arizona greeted Joanne, who began by asking Arizona about the woman she had just talked to. Arizona quickly dismissed her as 'just a friend' and asked Joanne what she wanted.

"No need to be feisty. I know it's early but still, you need my help not the other way around." Joanne replied to Arizona's demand.

"Sorry. Tell me." Arizona offered.

Joanne told Arizona she had managed to get hold of most of the files she had asked for. Joanne explained that she had attached them as encrypted files in an e-mail addressed to Arizona.

Arizona felt the adrenaline start pumping at this news. She couldn't wait to see what the files could reveal.

"I appreciate it Joanne." Arizona had just remembered Callie was in the room with her, and wanted to end the call as quickly as possible.

"I'll call you back later, OK?! Bye." Arizona put down the receiver slowly.

Before she had time to turn back to face Callie, she heard her ask "Who is Joanne?"

Arizona felt the surge of adrenaline being replaced by a feeling of anxiety instead. She decided to be as truthful she could without telling Callie too much, and without making Callie a part in her mess; her very dangerous mess. "She's just someone I work with."

"How did she know you were here, at my house?" Callie asked.

"Eh, well... I sort of used your phone the other night to give her a call." Arizona felt that this conversation was not going to end well.

"Oh... I see." Callie said with a disheartened tone.

Arizona didn't know what to say, she didn't have a good explanation for not telling Callie about using the phone; not without telling her too much about the whole situation.

"I thought you said there was no one to call. When I asked you. You said there was no one. So, I'm having difficulties understanding why you would not ask me to use the phone?" Callie's tone was a bit harder this time.

Arizona was caught off guard with that question. "Um... well..." She didn't know what to say so she settled for "It's complicated."

Callie snorted. "Isn't that what you told me last night about your having a boyfriend?! Maybe you could tell me about him then?!" Callie challenged.

Arizona again decided to give Callie part of the truth. "There never was a boyfriend."

Callie raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "But you told me your boyfriend had done this to you?! Did you lie about that?"

"I didn't lie. You just assumed it was my boyfriend who had done this; I just didn't tell you it wasn't." Arizona heard how stupid that sounded as soon as the words had left her mouth.

Callie crossed her arms over her chest as she heard Arizona's explanation. "So, you're saying that not telling someone that they are mistaken is not a form of lying?!" She frowned.

"No, I'm just saying... I don't have a boyfriend." Arizona sighed.

"Then who did this to you?" Callie demanded.

Arizona looked down, and was reluctant to answer because she knew it wouldn't go over well with Callie.

"Well?! I think I am entitled to know since I was the one who helped you."

Arizona looked at Callie, and opened her mouth to say something, but changed her mind. She figured saying 'it's complicated' would only make matters worse.

Callie stood up, and with anger in her voice asked "Does Joanne know?!"

Callie could see the guilty look on Arizona's face. "Is she your girlfriend, or is she also 'just a friend', like me?!"

Arizona realized that Callie had heard Arizona dismiss her as simply being a friend, to Joanne. "No, not at all! Joanne is just a friend, and the only reason I told her about you being a friend is just because I didn't want her to put her nose into my personal business." Arizona assured Callie.

Callie wasn't sure what to make of all this. A couple of hours ago she had felt happier than ever; adoring the woman standing in front of her, and now, she felt she didn't even know who the woman standing in front of her was. Her expression changed from anger to hurt as she asked Arizona why she had slept with her.

Arizona took a step forward, and reached out to touch Callie, but she drew away. Arizona put her hand down to her side. Callie looked at her own feet.

"Because I think you're a beautiful, kind, and intriguing woman." Arizona said with as much honesty, and sincerity in her voice as she could.

Callie felt part of Arizona's compliment sink in, but at the same time she wasn't sure Arizona was being honest, considering she had lied about a simple phone call.

"I'm sorry I can't tell you more about Joanne, or about why I used your phone without asking you about it. I'm asking you to just trust me on this, and I swear I would never do anything deliberate to hurt you. And Callie..." At the last words she lifted Callie's chin up to meet her own eyes. She saw that there were tears in her eyes, and that made her sad. She continued: "Whatever you think of me now, I want you to know that this night with you was the best thing I've done since... I don't know when. You were great, and me being an ass to you now does not change that. OK?!"

Callie didn't answer but she brushed away a tear that had escaped her eye while Arizona spoke. She really wanted to believe what Arizona said, but she was too upset right now to accept what she was told. She couldn't say anything to Arizona, because she knew her voice wouldn't hold. She looked at Arizona through teary eyes, and then walked out, into the bathroom and locked the door behind her.

Arizona closed her eyes and reproached herself for not handling this better. _Fuck_. In spite of Callie walking out, she hoped that her lack of response was not only a bad sign, and that she might come around, or at least let Arizona convince her that she had nothing but Callie's interest at heart.

Arizona temporarily forgot about Joanne's e-mail, and sat down on the bed. She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there when she heard the bathroom door unlock. She looked up, and saw Callie enter the bedroom, her black hair was still a bit moist, and she had her bathrobe on. Arizona didn't dare say anything to disturb her. Callie didn't want to talk to Arizona anymore so she just grabbed a clean set of clothes and went back into the bathroom to change.

When Callie walked out of the room the second time, Arizona put her face in her hands and fell back on the bed, and gave out a groan. She heard Callie going to the kitchen, and heard her making breakfast.

Callie figured she might as well go in to work a bit early. That would at least get some distance between her and Arizona.

She was just about to leave when she saw Arizona standing by the kitchen island.

"Look, I'll be gone when you get back from work this afternoon. I'm sorry it turned out this way, I really appreciate everything you have done for me, but I wont stay here if it makes you uncomfortable."

In spite of everything that Callie had just found out, she wasn't sure why, but she didn't want Arizona to leave. "You can stay." She said before she turned and walked out the door.


	12. Chapter 12

Arizona now felt there was hope to fix this mess she had made with Callie. Nevertheless, she had to take care of her slightly bigger mess first, so she went on the computer to check her e-mail.

Joanne had sent numerous encrypted files. Arizona opened them one by one, and printed them out.

She browsed through all of them to see if there was something that caught her eye. Nothing did, but Arizona was not discouraged because she knew that seeing patterns and solving problems sometimes took some time. She decided to sit down and read them through more carefully.

Callie had never arrived this early to work, and was hence welcomed by a surprised look from her boss. "Callie, do you know what time it is?"

"Yeah, I just couldn't sleep, and thought I might as well go in" She tried to give Bailey a convincing smile, but didn't really succeed.

Bailey could see there was something else behind Callie's early arrival, but did not want to pry. Callie went into the combined locker/lunch room to change.

She had had some time to think in her car, but what she really wanted to do was talk to someone about this, to help her decide what to do. Callie of course thought of Mark, but didn't know how to explain all this to him. She did really need to talk to her best friend though, and thought she could perhaps talk to him about it, without telling him everything. So, she sat down in a corner and dialed Mark's number.

It took a few signals for him to answer. "Hello?!" He answered hoarsely.

"Hey, it's me. Sorry I woke you."

"Callie? A bit early for you isn't it." He said more as a statement than a question.

"I know, it's just... I need to talk to you about something." She almost regretted that she had called him now that she faced the reality of having to tell him, at least parts of, what had happened.

"Well it must be pretty important if you call me this early. Shoot."

"Um... it's about... eh..." She wasn't sure how to start.

"Arizona." Mark beat her to it.

Callie raised her eyebrows. "Yeah. How did you know?"

"Callie, did you really think I bought that whole 'old-friend-from-college' story?!"

Callie couldn't help but smile. "I knew there was a reason you are my best friend."

"Ditto. So, tell me, did you fight, is she not ready to be exclusive, or is she married?"

Callie snorted at Mark's questions. "We sort of had a little fight this morning. And I don't know what to do. I feel like she doesn't trust me, and this morning I found out that she had lied about something and it made me feel I don't trust her completely either. I tried to make her tell me about it, to tell me the truth, but she didn't even answer me. But then she tells me how she thinks I'm a beautiful, and wonderful woman, and she never meant to hurt me, and foolish as I am I can't help to believe her. I don't know what to do Mark, she offered to leave, but I told her she could stay, and then I went to work.

"Are you at work now?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, I'm sitting in our lunch room, and thought I'd call you before the others come in. But what do I do about Arizona?! The last twelve hours have been a roller-coaster to say the least: first I think that we could only be friends, then it turns out she plays on my team, we have great sex, and then this happened, and now I don't know what the hell I'm doing."

"Good for you, you needed to get laid!"

Callie sighed. "I'm glad you're focusing on the right things here Mark."

"Sorry, but it's true. OK, so what you're saying is that she hasn't told you everything about herself? That's not really a big deal since I take it you haven't known each other long?"

"Fine, you have a point, but she lied to me. And she lied about a little stupid thing, which was totally unnecessary." Callie pointed out.

"But if it was only a little stupid thing, what was the big deal?" Mark wondered.

"But it wasn't only that she had lied, it was the way I found out about it." Callie insisted, but didn't want to go into details about it, so she stopped there.

Mark was quiet for a few seconds. "Look, I can't tell you it wasn't a big deal if you feel it was. All I'm saying is, given your history with lies, maybe you are more sensitive to when people aren't a hundred percent truthful to you. But Callie, people lie, all the time, but the good thing is that usually they are white lies; things we say to avoid people getting hurt or to avoid unnecessary arguments. It doesn't mean that someone is cheating on you, or that they don't love you or care about you." Mark made sure that the last sentence sounded genuine.

Callie listened, and felt her heart sting a little at the part about the cheating, but she did take in what Mark was saying.

"I think you should sit down and talk about why you reacted the way you did, but you should also tell Arizona that she needs to compromise and tell you more about herself, and not lie if it isn't absolutely necessary, if she wants a relationship with you."

Callie knew Mark had a point. "Mark. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Thank you for being such a good friend, and I don't know what I would do without you." Callie felt her eyes tearing up again.

"Callie, you know I feel the same way about you. We make a good team you know."

Alex walked in, but stopped in his tracks when he saw Callie sitting on the floor. Callie hurriedly ended the conversation with Mark telling him she would call him back later because she had to work.

Callie greeted Alex, and he asked her if she was alright. Callie assured him that she was, now. Alex put on his work shirt and at the same time asked Callie why she was there so early. Callie told him what she had told Bailey; she didn't want there to be different stories for her colleagues to compare.

Arizona had began to sort the files and reports in different piles based on what she thought to be similarities. Except for the marking 485, which told her Stevens had been the SAC on all of them. There were certain aspects Arizona thought might lead her to understand what she was missing about them, something that would help her plan her next move.

She had been at this for hours when she realized she hadn't eaten anything today. She looked at the piles and figured she needed some food to make her be able to concentrate. So, she went to the kitchen and found some ingredients to make herself a sandwich.

While sitting there eating her sandwich, her mind wandered off to what had happened this morning with Callie. Arizona again felt guilty about making Callie feel that way. She also thought about what they had experienced together right before that, which made her feel everything else but guilt. The fact that she truly felt something for Callie only added to her guilty conscience.

Arizona tried to remember the last time she had felt this way about another person. What had it been like with Joanne? She concluded that one of the reasons it ended with Joanne, at least on her side, was the lack of the same emotions she was experiencing with Callie now. The things Arizona had said about Callie this morning were absolutely true; she was a beautiful, and intriguing woman. Arizona couldn't wait to know more about her, both on a psychological as well as a physical level.

Arizona imagined what it would be like to be closer to Callie, to have a relationship with her. She smiled. Then she remembered the circumstances and her smile faded. Even though she knew this could not turn out the way she wanted, she needed to make Callie trust her again, and the only way to do that was to take the first step and offer something to Callie that would make her understand why Arizona had lied. But first, the files.

Callie was dealing with a customer when Alex offered to take over so Callie could take her lunch break. Callie was so grateful to Alex for saving her from Mr. Owens who always seemed to not understand that they did not refund empty cans.

She took one of those ready made sandwiches to eat for lunch. She went outside to get some fresh air. She sat down, and as she ate she thought about what Mark had said, and how she was going to talk to Arizona about it. She was glad she had offered Arizona to stay; maybe something in her subconscious knew she needed to give her a second chance.

The files that Arizona had piled up had changed location a number of times since she had eaten that sandwich. She still hadn't found anything conclusive, but she could feel there was something there just waiting to be discovered.

She figured it was a good idea to let it rest for awhile, and then look at it with fresh eyes again later.

Now there was another issue to address. Arizona thought she should be the one to take the first step since she was the one who had messed up. She decided that as a sign of her wanting to make things right, she would go to the store where Callie worked and talk to her there instead of waiting until she got home. She realized it was risky, but it was the only thing she could think of that might change things between them. People around there would not recognize her, and her bruising was pretty much gone, so she wouldn't raise any suspicion with her appearance – other than being a stranger that is.

Since Arizona hadn't been really conscious when Callie had driven her home that first night, she needed to look at a map to guide her where, and how far, to walk. It didn't seem too far, so she printed out the map, put on her shoes, and used a spare key to lock the door behind her when she left.

Callie was at the far back of the store unpacking and stacking up articles on shelves when Arizona entered the store. Arizona looked around to see if she could spot Callie among all the people there, but no luck. Apparently a member of the staff had seen her looking for someone, so she was asked if they could help her with anything. Arizona first said no, but as the person walked away she realized that he would know who Callie was, so she asked if he knew where she was.

Alex looked at the woman and tried to place her somewhere in his memory but couldn't remember that he had ever talked or seen her before. So he tried to ask politely who was asking. Arizona smiled and said she was an old friend from college. Alex was satisfied with that answer and went to get Callie.

He found her with her head in one of the giant boxes filled with toilet paper.

"Someone's asking for you." He said.

"What, why? It's not Mr. Owens is it?" She dreaded having a second encounter with him on the same day.

"No, some woman who says she's an old college friend of yours."

Callie looked incredulously at Alex. "What?!"

"Yeah, pretty, short blond hair. Ring a bell?"

Callie snapped out her moment of surprise. "Yeah. Yes, of course, yes. Coming."

She saw Arizona from afar and couldn't help but feel warmth spreading through her body. She couldn't believe Arizona had come here. On the other hand she kind of wished she hadn't, because it meant this discussion would take place in public, which was nothing Callie wished to experience.

Arizona saw Callie making her way up to her, so she started walking towards her, meeting her halfway.

"Arizona? Is everything alright? Did something happen?" Callie wondered if maybe something else had happened to make her come here and not wait for Callie to come home.

"No, no, nothing happened. I just needed to talk to you."

Callie looked around her to see who was staring at them. Arizona noticed and asked if there was somewhere more private they could talk. Callie said there was and told Arizona to follow her to the lunch room. But when they got there, Smelly-Ray and Charlie were having a late lunch. Callie just offered a courteous hello, and then proceeded to the back door that led outside.

When they were both outside Callie didn't say anything, but looked at Arizona expecting her to give an explanation as to why she had come here.

"I couldn't wait for you to get home to tell you again how sorry I am about what happened this morning." Arizona started.

Callie sighed. She had already heard Arizona apologize, but even though she knew she had overreacted, like Mark had pointed out, she was interested in hearing if Arizona had something more to offer, so she stayed silent.

"Look, I came here because I wanted you to know that I was telling the truth when I said I care about you. And the reason I haven't told you certain things is for the same reason. The reason I was injured is because I am in danger, and I don't want you to risk ending up in the same mess that I am in right now, so I lied to keep you out of it." Arizona turned her side to Callie. She had had some time to prepare a speech on her walk over here, but she was afraid she couldn't go through with it if she saw Callie's reaction while she did.

"Joanne is the only one I trust right now, except from you of course. She is helping me to get out of this situation, and that's why she called this morning, because she had found something that might help me. And like I said this morning it doesn't change anything that happened between us last night. I very much enjoyed that part."

Arizona wasn't sure how to continue, she had gotten as far as she had rehearsed, so she fell silent.

Callie, who had been listening intently to every word Arizona had said, felt her doubts slowly disappear. She thought about what Mark had said about Arizona having to compromise, and Callie thought that this was something along the line of that. But after Arizona's attempt to explain to Callie what everything was about, she felt she needed to ease some of Arizona's apparent guilty conscious. So, she stroked Arizona's arm "I'm sorry too."

Arizona turned her head to look at Callie's hand touching her arm, then she looked up at her face as Callie continued: "I have a history of people lying to me, so I have a tendency to overreact when people lie to me."

Arizona turned her whole body to face Callie's now. She took Callie's hand in hers and assured Callie that she had not overreacted, and that it was entirely Arizona's fault things had turned out the way they did.

Callie suddenly thought about what it was Arizona had said. "But what do you mean you're in danger? Who hurt you?"

Arizona looked down at her feet, then at Callie's face again, and said: "I honestly don't know, Callie."


	13. Chapter 13

Arizona had insisted on walking back home and let Callie take the car back when she finished work.

Callie had had to answer a lot of questions as to the identity of the blonde woman she had just talked to. Callie decided it was easiest to go with the old-friend-from-college story. She added something about her friend just passing through and that Callie had promised her that she could stay at her place for a week or so. It seemed they bought her story.

Arizona went back to Callie's house. She came in and saw all the files on the floor, and decided to move them into the guest room, so Callie wouldn't see them when she got home. She picked them up in their separate piles, and made her way through the hallway.

As she was about to put them on the desk, some of the files fell out on the floor. Arizona sighed. She bent down to pick them up, but when she did, she noticed that two of the files were marked with the exact same date. She compared the two to be sure that this was in fact the case. Indeed, it was, but it shouldn't be possible since the two files should have been dated at least a year apart.

Arizona put the two files aside and started going through the rest of them and she found at least ten more files with the same date. She sorted the files into only two different piles this time: one with files marked with the date 20110505, and one with the other files.

When Arizona was done sorting the files, she looked through the ones with the same date to see if she could find any similarities she hadn't noticed before. She was getting more and more frustrated by the fact that she couldn't see anything that tied them together except for the date. She groaned, and then slammed the files down on the desk. She put her head down and let her forehead rest on the files she had just hit the desk with.

She stayed like that for a couple of minutes trying desperately to think what the damn date meant. She concluded that she might need more help figuring this one out. She went on Callie's computer and wrote an e-mail to Joanne. She attached the files she had found the same date on, and explained as cryptically as she could that she wanted Joanne to take a look and see if she had any suggestions as to how to proceed.

Callie hadn't stopped thinking about Arizona since she had left the store. After their conversation, and Arizona's attempt to make it right between them, Callie was filled with a longing. And that longing was of course directed at Arizona, and specifically her body.

So Callie had decided they were going to at least eat dinner first, but then she had planned for them to relive last night again.

Arizona was lying on her bed when she heard Callie come home. She got up, and went out into the corridor to avoid Callie coming into the room and seeing all of the files.

Arizona started walking towards the kitchen when Callie appeared at the end of the hallway. She smiled and said hello to Arizona, and then walked towards her. She didn't come to a stop until her face was inches from Arizona's.

Arizona froze and just looked into Callie's eyes, waiting to see what was about to happen. She had decided after talking to Callie that she would not encourage Callie in any way, since she didn't want to lead her on and then just end up hurting her feelings when she had to leave.

Callie just held the distance. "I thought we could make stir-fry for dinner. I bought some vegetables. Could you start chopping them up while I go change?"

Arizona was a bit taken by the moment, so she didn't say anything but nodded slowly.

Callie took a step back. "Good! I'll be right there." Then she walked past Arizona and into her room.

Arizona followed Callie with her eyes as she walked away. When Callie had disappeared into her room, Arizona went to the kitchen. She saw the bag with vegetables on the counter, so she rinsed them, and took out a knife and a cutting board. She wasn't sure how to cut them up, but she figured she could start chopping and then ask Callie if she should do it some other way.

She had just finished with the broccoli when she heard Callie enter the kitchen.

"Callie, I'm not sure I've done this the right way. I think you should come over here and check if the pieces are too big or something."

It wasn't a few seconds until Arizona felt Callie's arms around her own waist, and then she felt the rest of Callie's body push close to her back. She wasn't prepared for the touch so her body stiffened at first. Then she felt Callie's face beside her own as she looked down at the result of Arizona's chopping.

"I think it looks fine." She concluded.

Callie then proceeded to put her lips to Arizona's neck. She then put her hands under Arizona's shirt, and started caressing her. Arizona had to let go of the knife to be able to use both her hands to support herself against the counter. She couldn't help but feel conflicted about what was happening. She loved how it made her feel, but at the same time she had planned to avoid this happening again.

When Callie put her hand inside Arizona's pants, Arizona felt that she was losing control of the situation. She put her own hand on Callie's to stop her from reaching her goal. Callie stopped, and pulled her hand back.

"Is something wrong?" Callie asked.

Arizona turned around to face her. "Are you sure about this?"

"What do you mean? Weren't you the one telling me how great I was a few hours ago?! Have you changed your mind?"

"No! It's just..." Arizona took Callie's hands in her own. "I don't want to be the cause of your being hurt again."

Callie let go of Arizona's hands. "I know I said I had trust issues, but that doesn't mean I am not an adult who can make decisions on my own. You don't have to take responsibility for what I feel that way."

Arizona knew Callie was right, and that Arizona was coming across like a pretentious, condescending fool. "You're right." Arizona sighed. "And I'm glad you are." She added, and gave Callie a smile.

Callie, who had taken two steps back, reached out to pull Arizona closer by the hem of her pants.

Arizona let Callie pull her in, and met her with a kiss. Callie put her hands in Arizona's hair and pushed her mouth as hard as she could against Arizona's without hurting either of them, and kissed her fervently.

Overcome with emotions, Arizona pushed Callie slowly back until she reached the kitchen island, and lifted Callie up onto the island. Arizona directed her kisses to Callie's neck now and as she did, she started unbuttoning her shirt, giving her access to kiss more of Callie's skin.

Callie's response was to wrap her legs around Arizona to have her even closer. She leaned in and whispered in Arizona's ear to take her to her bedroom. Arizona lifted Callie up again, but this time she carried Callie in the direction of the bedroom.


	14. Chapter 14

Arizona lay beside Callie, who was fast asleep, studying her calm face. She looked more beautiful than ever, she thought. Arizona turned around to face the ceiling. She thought about what had happened this evening and felt a grin form on her face. She soon dropped it though, as she remembered what was going on and how she knew this couldn't last much longer. She felt sad about the fact that she would have to leave something that felt this good. She hadn't known it until now, but this was what she had been looking for. Despite the fact that someone wanted her dead, Arizona had never felt more calm and at peace. She had always had a sort of restlessness about her, but with Callie, that part of her seemed to disappear.

Arizona's thoughts about a future with, or without Callie, were interrupted by a noise in the present. At first Arizona thought she might have imagined it, but there it was again. She sat up. She was definitely not imagining things. She got up and put on some pants and a t-shirt. She went to the bedroom door and looked down the hallway. Thoughts were going through her head about who was making that noise. Could it be Mark, or someone else who was playing a prank on Callie?

There it was again. This time Arizona noticed the origin of the sound she had heard: the front door, and there was no doubt that someone was trying to break in. Her heart dropped as she ruled out all the possibilities of it being someone else than someone sent here to kill her.

She looked in at Callie, and saw that she was still asleep. There was no time to wake her and get her to safety. Arizona closed the door and quietly hurried into the kitchen. She wanted to at least have an element of surprise on her side if she was to fight whoever was coming through that door. She hid behind the kitchen island, and waited for someone to come through the door.

She heard footsteps, and peeked out to get a look at whoever it was. Arizona felt her heart pumping, and adrenaline starting to fill her entire system when she saw not one, but two dark shadows entering the house. She had to rethink her initial plan. She looked around her to see what she could use as a weapon. She didn't know what the other two had on them, so she needed to think fast.

She had to disable one of them first so she didn't have to fight two people at the same time. But that also meant she would lose the element of surprise on the guy who was left, leaving him free to draw a weapon, which she was certain he was carrying. In other words, she needed to get the other man's gun before she put him down.

Arizona closed her eyes to gather herself for what she was about to do. Then she stepped out from behind the kitchen island, hit the man closest to her as hard as she could on the side of his neck, and broke his knee by stomping down on it with her left foot, and as he sunk to the floor she pulled his sidearm and aimed it at the man in front of her. As Arizona had predicted, the other man had had time to draw his gun, but not fast enough; resulting in both of them aiming their weapons at each other at the same time.

They just looked at each other. The man on the floor was groaning, but Arizona just put her left foot down on his throat to keep him still, not once looking away from the man in front of her.

"Who sent you?!" Arizona hissed out.

The man was slowly backing away as he tried to think of what to do next. Arizona was just about to make a move on him when she saw Callie emerge from the door in the hallway. _Fuck_!

Callie had woken up from strange sounds coming from the kitchen, so she had decided to go out and see what Arizona was doing out there in the middle of the night that was causing that much noise. Callie could never have been prepared for what she saw when she stepped out of her room: Arizona was aiming a gun at a man, who had his back to Callie.

The man turned around as he heard Callie step out into the hallway. He aimed his gun at her. Arizona tried to hold back the panic she felt at seeing the man aiming his gun at Callie.

"Hey!" She said as she stepped over the, now unconscious, man on the floor. The other man turned around again to face Arizona. "Callie, go back into the bedroom." She ordered.

Callie put one foot back towards the opening of the bedroom, but the man turned around to face her again and said: "Hold it!"

Callie didn't dare move, and put up her hands to show him she was in fact following his orders and was not a threat to him. Arizona was reluctant to put down her only weapon but didn't see any other choice.

"Look! I'm putting down my gun, alright?!" She held up her left hand to show the man, who turned his head towards her, as she slowly moved the other hand with the gun towards the floor.

Arizona knew that if she put her gun down it would leave the man in charge of the whole situation. So when she saw his shoulders drop slightly, she pulled up her right hand and met her left arm, and fired a shot towards his right shoulder. It didn't stop him from firing his gun, but it did make him miss Callie.

Arizona lost her balance and fell to the floor. She dropped her gun in the process, so she hurried up to the man to try to get the gun from his hand. She managed to hit his wound on his right shoulder which made him drop it on the floor. But he turned around quickly and hit back. Arizona took a blow to the head, which left her a bit groggy, and that was all it took for the man to grab her from behind and put his arm around her throat.

Arizona used the opposite wall as leverage and used both her legs to push herself and the man into the wall. He released his grip on her, and she turned around to hit him in the face with her elbow; subsequently kicking his legs to make him lose his balance, and finally used her knee to hit his head on his way down. He hit the floor unconscious.

Arizona panted but then looked down towards Callie, and saw her still standing there pushed up against the wall, her mouth open in shock. Callie looked at Arizona who was bleeding from her nose, and couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. "Who are you?!" Were the first words to leave her mouth.

Arizona took a few steps towards Callie, but stopped when she saw Callie back away from her, closer to her bedroom door. Arizona looked down at her feet. "I told you I was in danger. But I never thought that they would be able to find me here. I never wanted to put you in danger. I'm so sorry."

Callie felt her shock and disgust subside when she saw that Arizona was ashamed of what had just happened. It's not like she had had any choice; the man was pointing a gun at Callie, and at Arizona. Callie walked up to Arizona and embraced her. Arizona only leaned in to Callie at first, but then she put her arms around her as well.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, and I'm even more sorry that I put you in this kind of danger." Arizona spoke softly still holding Callie tightly against her.

"I know. But I'm fine, and so are you." Callie tried to assure her.

Arizona let go of Callie. She realized they couldn't stay there; there might be more people coming. "You need to leave." She said to Callie.

Callie looked sceptically at Arizona. "What about you?!"

"I have to take care of this." She pointed at the man lying on the floor. "And then I need to leave this place too." She didn't want to look into Callie's eyes as she said this, so she averted her eyes and directed them beyond Callie down the hallway.

Callie felt how tears were forming in her eyes. She knew why Arizona had to leave; she just didn't want her to. "So, this is it." She stated.

Arizona still held her stern gaze at the window at the end of the hallway. "Yeah. This is it."

Callie was just about to put her hands around Arizona's face and force her to look at her when she broke her stare and walked into the guest bedroom. Callie followed her. "You need to go to your mother's place, and then take her with you and go over to Mark's." Arizona said as she changed into her own clothes, that were now clean – except for the massive brownish stain on her shirt: the detergent hadn't been able to wash away all the blood.

"Why do we need to go to Mark's?" Callie asked.

"Because, if they come looking for you it would be easy enough to find out where your mother lives. It will take them a while longer to figure out your connection to Mark." Arizona looked at the files on the desk. "Do you have a bag I can borrow?"

Callie nodded and went into her room to get a small sports bag.

Arizona hung up the phone when Callie walked in. She said she had called Joanne, but there had been no answer. She thanked Callie for the bag and started putting in all the files she had printed out in it. She didn't want to risk them getting into the wrong hands.

"Alright. Do you need to pack anything for you mother's?" Arizona asked.

Callie said she had clothes there so she didn't really need to pack anything.

Arizona told Callie to wait in her room while she took care of the men in her kitchen. Arizona wasn't sure what would be best, but there was no time to think about different solutions, so she tied them up to each other, and fastened them to the living room couch.

Callie walked past them on the way out and asked Arizona if they were going to be alright. Arizona said they would, but Callie wasn't sure if she was really telling the truth. Neither was Arizona.

It was a bit chilly when they went outside. "I'll come with you to your mother's so I know you are safe." Arizona said while she looked around for signs of anything out of the ordinary.

Callie looked at her, but didn't say anything. She started walking. Arizona turned around, and followed her.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Arizona started talking: instructing Callie what to do next. She asked her to wait until the morning to call the police and tell them what had happened. She suggested that Callie stay at Mark's for at least a week, that should give Arizona time to lead them far away from Callie.

Callie hadn't said anything up until now, but she couldn't take it anymore. She stopped and turned to face Arizona. Arizona stopped talking.

"Do we really have to do it your way? Why can't you just come with me to Mark's and we'll call the police and they can take care of it, and keep us safe?!" Callie suggested.

Arizona sighed. "Callie. There is no place I'd rather be than with you. But you saw those men; you can't hide from them forever. The further away I am from you the safer you'll be." She gave Callie a sincere look.

Callie didn't want to believe what she was hearing, but she knew Arizona was probably right. She just didn't want her to leave. "Will you at least let me know that you are alright?!"

Arizona put both her hands on Callie's shoulders. "I don't know if I will be able to contact you to let you know how I am. It might lead them to you, or to me. But I assure you, if I can, I will!" She pulled Callie in for a hug.

Callie held on to Arizona and didn't want to let go. When Arizona tried to pull away, Callie held her fast. "Callie, we have to keep going."

Callie sighed and let go. "Fine." She walked on.

When they finally arrived outside Callie's mother's house, it was Arizona who didn't want to leave. She wasn't sure if it was fair to Callie to give her a kiss before she left, but she felt herself moving in closer, and Callie didn't seem to pull away. So, she leaned in and kissed her.

Both of them wanted the kiss to last forever, but Callie was the first to pull away. "OK. So I promise not to call the police until the morning. Should I tell you good luck, or what. I don't know what to say."

Arizona smiled and told her good luck was fine, and then told Callie to stay safe, and that if she could, Arizona would try to let her know she was alright.

Callie stood outside her mother's house and watched Arizona walk away. She couldn't hold the tears back any longer.

Arizona felt tears rolling down her cheeks as well but didn't turn back, it would only make it harder.


	15. Chapter 15

Callie had assumed that staying away from her house for three weeks would be enough. The police had arrested the two men in her house the morning after; both of them had survived, although it was touch and go for a while for the man Arizona had shot. The police had not been able to identify the two men and had therefore sent the case to the regional headquarters and let them take it from there. They had also made sure to have extra patrols around town to look out for anything unusual going on, and put a surveillance car by Callie's house in case someone would show up.

Callie looked out the living room window and waved to the officer in the surveillance car. It would be there for at least a week after Callie had moved back in the police had promised her.

Callie walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter. She closed her eyes and took in the silence of the house. _How can silence be so loud_, she wondered.

She hadn't heard anything from Arizona since she had walked away from Callie that night outside her mother's house. She knew she wasn't suppose to try to contact her but she had to at least try: Arizona could be dead and Callie wouldn't know about it. She got Joanne's number from her phone bill, but when she tried calling, the number was no longer in service. She didn't even know her last name, which meant she couldn't even try to get hold of Arizona's parents. Callie tried to convince herself that maybe it was for the better.

Callie hadn't told her mother and Mark all the details about what had happened, just that they had been attacked and that Arizona had to leave because she was the one the attackers were looking for. They hadn't asked her more than she had wanted to tell them either, and she was very thankful for that.

She was more truthful to them, however, than she had been with the police. She had decided to stick with Arizona's original story, or at least what Callie had thought was Arizona's story. She had told them about Arizona being in bad shape, and that she had told Callie it was her boyfriend who had hurt her. So, Callie had naturally wanted to help her. It wasn't until they were attacked that she had understood Arizona had been lying. The police didn't doubt her story; another perk of living in a small town: people knew you and that meant you could rely on your reputation.

Bailey had told her to take as much time off as she needed, but Callie would rather get back to work as soon as possible to get her mind off Arizona. She noticed that her colleagues tried to be encouraging, but Callie found that the only one she could relax around was Alex. They spent most of their breaks together. Mostly discussing Alex's dreams and his various dates.

Other than work, she tried to hang out as much as she could with Mark. At least he would make his best to make her laugh, and feel good. Nevertheless, there was no avoiding going back home and facing the quiet of her house. She tried to avoid it sometimes by asking Mark if she could stay at his place for the night, or doing the same at her mother's. She never told them the real reason for wanting to stay over; it was either she was too tired to walk home or that it was just easier to stay there since it was already so late. Callie figured that both her mother and Mark knew exactly why she wanted to stay, but she was glad they played along.

Callie had been living at her house for about three weeks, and had started to feel a bit better, that is, not thinking about Arizona all the time. Most of the people around her had stopped being overly sensitive when talking to her, which was also nice. Still, she had taken on more shifts at the store to occupy her mind further.

Callie was doing the last hour of her last shift for the week at one of the back shelves, stacking jars of assorted jams, when Alex walked up to her and told her someone was asking for her at the register. She thought it might be a customer that wanted to complain about her service, but then Alex added: "It's that old friend of yours from college."

Callie looked up at him in disbelief. "What?!" But she didn't wait for him to answer.

She made her way to the register but stopped in her tracks when she saw Arizona standing there. She hadn't seen Callie yet. She stood there with her hands in her pockets, looking casually around her. Then she locked eyes with Callie.

Callie widened her already big smile when she looked into those blue eyes. Arizona walked up to meet her. Callie plunged forward to give her a hug. Arizona laughed at Callie's fierce hug, but she also made sure to squeeze Callie tightly against her own body.

They parted their bodies, and Callie just stared at her. Then it dawned on her: why hadn't Arizona told her about coming, or at least told Callie that she apparently was out of harms way?!

"Why didn't you tell me you were safe?!" Callie wasn't smiling any longer.

Arizona looked around her again. "Can we take this outside?" She suggested.

They walked through the lunch room and then outside where Arizona proceeded to tell Callie what had happened after they had parted ways.

Arizona had been on the run for a day or so when she had tried to contact Joanne again; this time she succeeded. It turned out Joanne had understood pretty quickly what the dates on the files had meant (Arizona quickly filled in Callie on the files Joanne had sent her). It was nothing more complicated than the fact that filing them under the same date, would avoid getting noticed by the system's own consistency checks, which would normally lead to a red flag being raised in one of the departments, for further investigation. The reason Joanne could figure that out and not Arizona was because Joanne had started her career in the department that dealt with most of the filing systems.

Joanne had, subsequently, decided to take matters in her own hands. She used the contacts she had with people in the higher levels. They, in turn, had put together a team to investigate who was involved in this conspiracy. That meant that Arizona had to stay away for quite some time, so the people looking for her would not suspect anything, and run away themselves.

Arizona wanted to contact Callie but didn't want to risk anything before the right people were caught. When they were finally caught, she had to come in and be debriefed, and go through evidence, and later, a trial.

Callie had listened very intently to Arizona's story. "So, the trial just ended?" She wondered.

"Not exactly. I did my last day about one week ago." Arizona admitted.

Callie didn't understand. If the trial had been over for Arizona since a week back, why hadn't she tried to contact Callie?!

"But then, why didn't you call me, or send me a message?!" Callie couldn't hide her disappointment.

"I'm sorry but there was so much to do after the trial." Arizona offered.

Callie still didn't understand. "Even if you did have a lot to do, you could have sent me a message, you know, just dropped a line or two."

Arizona looked a bit embarrassed by Callie's comment. "I also wanted to come see you in person." Arizona offered. "And in my defense I had a lot to get in order for my possibly new job." She said with a happy tone.

Callie felt like a fool. Here she had been moping around, worrying about Arizona's safety, and she on her end hadn't even had the time to write her a message telling Callie she was alright, because she had had so much to do?! Was this how much she mattered to Arizona?

Arizona could see that Callie wasn't very pleased about what Arizona was telling her. "Don't you want to know about my new job offer?!" She tried. "I had to pack all of my stuff in case I needed to move to a new place, hence the lack of time." She added when Callie didn't say anything.

Callie decided there was no reason to be rude, so she put on a fake smile and asked Arizona what the new job was. Arizona smiled. "It's here!" She exclaimed in a proud voice. "Well, it could be anyway." She murmured as she didn't get a reaction from Callie.

"Well that's gr... What?!" Callie had already prepared an answer, so she started saying it until she registered what Arizona had said. "What do you mean here?!"

"I mean here in this town. I haven't signed any papers or anything just yet; I wanted to run it by you first." She arched her eyebrows in anticipation.

Arizona had had a lot of time to think about her future, and Callie, the last few weeks and decided – like she had told Callie – that there was no place she'd rather be.

Callie couldn't help herself, but put her hands to her face and started crying. Arizona put a hand on Callie's shoulder worried that she had hurt her feelings. "Callie, I'm sorry, I should have told you right away but I wanted to it to be sort of a surprise. I'm so stupid!" Arizona felt so bad.

Callie put down her hands, and Arizona could see that she was actually laughing, although tears were streaming down her face at the same time.

"It's happy tears." Callie explained.

Arizona started laughing too. "I guess you approve then?!"

"I do!" Callie said, and then went in to give Arizona a kiss.

It had been about a week since Arizona had moved all her stuff into Callie's house. The local police office had gotten need to know information about Arizona, just to clear her name.

Since Arizona didn't mind changing her job description a bit after what had happened, it meant that she could work more from home. The only thing was that she had to come in every other month to attend meetings with other staff-members, as well as go to certain conventions around the country, but those didn't happen very often.

Arizona had never been happier. She hadn't known what it was she was looking for, and she would never have believed it if somebody had told her, but this was it; this was exactly what she had been looking for all along. She loved sharing a house, and her life with Callie.

Callie couldn't be happier either. Her house that she not too long ago dreaded to come home to, was now the one place she really loved to be, because it meant that she got to be with Arizona. The silence was no longer loud; and the silence she shared with Arizona was an easy one.


End file.
